Capernum Skyplex: Running From the Past

[kahl]

Perched on the bartop, one foot on a stool the other dangling free, Jack kept her back toward the wall. Yin and Nike were in front of her and she had a clear view of the door and she liked it that way. Although she didn't smoke often, she lit up a small hand-rolled cig and puffed at it between sips of her drink. She'd found bottles of boba tea in the fridge and already feeling the disconcerting effect of the wine she'd had with Madhi, Jack switched to non-alcoholic.

When the leather cuff about her wrist suddenly beeped, Jack reached down and touched one of the several metal nubs lining the edge. It was actually a watch, of sorts, and it was time to take her medicine. Sliding off the counter she grabbed her stuff and walked behind the bar to the door leading to the facilities. She ignored Yin and Nike's stares and locked the door.

The entire process of taking her injection and pills took less than two minutes, but Jack took her time, lingering in the restroom for a bit. The couple in the lounge put her on edge. Jack spent a lot of time around "unsavory types", but these two were the first in a long time to actually unsettle her.

When she finally returned to the lounge and swiped her unfinished boba tea from the bartop, the turquoise-haired girl dropped her belongings on the couch and sat, putting her feet up on the table.

"So...what's the deal with you two?" She asked conversationally. "You related? Hooked up?" She twitched two fingers clinging to her cigarette between them, pointing at each in turn with a mildly suspicious lift of one brow. "You seem a little mismatched, if you know what I mean..."

- - - -

Although Stewart's face was covered, his stone-still posture and seeming lack of breath gave away more than Madhi thought he realized. She stood beside him, hand over her mouth. Time was slipping away from them and no one had had the opportunity to inform John about the Sohn situation. It was a development that none of them liked the sound of. The interuption that had stalled their notification was the arrival of a new vid-wave. It was this wave that held them all paralyzed and gawking at the screen. It wasn't a call, just a received film. A file showing Roman Savage on his knees, a gun pressed to his temple and Thadius Black burrowing a hole in the boy's collarbone with a lit cigar. The scrawny one, Pug, shoved his face into view of the camera and cackled. "28 hours left, cockbag!"

The shouting and laughing of the wave started over as Thadius applied the cigar to Roman's chest for the third time. Madhi suddenly pressed a hand to her stomach and turned away. Kaige muted the wave to quiet the screaming as the film looped and started again, then he swallowed and looked up at Stewart. "What do we do...?" he whispered.

Stewart held out a hand, then turned and walked past Madhi to the stairs. As the man disappeared without word, Madhi blinked at Kaige. "Shen me cao, Kaige!"

"I know..." he sighed.

- - - -

"Send these others to retrieve them...Ishkar is Silent Order--I'm sure he has enough connections, and--"

The sharp rap of Stewart's fist on the door cut Kahl's fuming short. Glowering at John as he crossed their room to open the door, the woman lit another cigarette, stubbing the previous into the ash bowl with it's nine brothers.

As the door slid open, Stewart dipped his head and murmured, "I'm sorry to interrupt...but...John, we need to talk."

[Melara]

Yin snorted a grunt, cocking the side of his mouth to show a pair of brilliantly white teeth. “It’d be like caoing a rat, that,” he said.

Nike, if she took offense at this, did not show it, once again watching the stars with a near blank, thoughtful expression. Yin moved closer to where Jack sat, Planting one foot on the table he leaned forward, crossing his arms over his upraised knee as he regarded her with an intent stare. “You know where I found her, do you? Top level Savon, another rat living in the vents and ducts. She’s got scars on her wrist…ugly things, can’t see them with that leather tie on there…she was shackled once, see…and about chewed through her own wrist to get out. Didn’t even blink while she did it, blood running down her chin and her teeth digging into her own flesh like it was a boiled sweet.”

His own white teeth snapped together sharply as his blue, tattooed eyes flashed in mirth.

**
John grunted, not in the most equitable of moods. “We didn’t bring on even more strays, did we?” he asked, before jerking his head in an indication for Stewart to step inside. When the man hesitated John scowled.

“Whatever it is you can say it in front of Kahl. In.”

[kahl]

The burly man's chest heaved with discomfort as he stepped past John and into the room. Body language alone was all that was necessary to show that he was wary of bringing this news with Kahl present. The woman, to her credit, sat with her head down as if she could not even hear them.

"We've received word from most of those we tried to reach. Ishkar and his merc crew are on their way to rendezvous with us. Several of Madhi's more generous clients donated money to help us, and Visara is willing to help--but only so much." Clearing his throat, he shifted his weight indicating that this was where his information grew volatile. This would be like handling old, seeping dynamite.

"Various sources reported and confirmed that Aerc has been spotted on Moksha, in or near the vicinity of Timira." He glanced hesitantly at Kahl then leaned to John to whisper, "with an old friend of his..."

Kahl lifted her head but did nothing more than stare at the two of them clearly unable to have heard what was said. Stewart rubbed at his neck and shoulders with one hand then added before she could ask questions, "and Kaige just received another transmission. Just a short wave this time...of Black and Pug burning the kid, Roman, with cigars. They said we're down to 18 hours..."

Crossing his arms, Stewart tried to stand his ground as he asked, "John...we need a plan and we need it now."

- - - -

Jack held his gaze unflinchingly. "We all have our scars. If you treat a person like an animal, they'll behave as one."

Her eyes shifted to Nike with sympathy. "Sounds to me like she had a bad start of it. I lived on Savon a bit...no place for a kid to grow up. It can kill a person's soul before they even knew they had one."

"That all you do?" she asked, letting the double entendre hang for a moment before her eyes shifted to indicated the scars on his knuckles. "You're a fighter..? What happens if someone takes you down, takes out a knee?"

Her eyes fixed on his with an intense sharpness. "Or are you already a fence monkey?"

[Melara]

“I’m no fence monkey,” Yin said sternly. “You’re a talky little thing aren’t you? Curious about those around you, hmm? Curious, talky, pretty little thing with the green hair.”

**
“Ay,” John replied, rubbing the back of his neck. “All right, Crew meetin’ in fifteen ay?”

He lightly clasped his friend’s shoulder with a clear, faint gesture to go. As Stewart left John went over to his wife and crouched. “We’ve got to do this thing, Kahl. We’ve got to get this figured out.”

[kahl]

Kahl lifted her eyes to him, more sorrow and fear in them than he'd seen in ages and a weariness that weighed her down. "He said that Aerc's with Sohn...didn't he..? Timira. That's where we lived...Timira. Sohn went home and Aerc found him."

Stewart hesitated by the door as if wanting to say something, wanting to refute her claim, but he couldn't. Turning away he slipped out of the room and headed for the bridge. They'd not yet taken off, so Kaige could be spared from the controls to join them all in the lounge.

- - - -

Jack barked a laugh. "Pretty..? Oh now I know you're full of pi hua."

Shrugging then as she sipped from her boba tea, Jack looked him over muttered, "nice ink. Curious about the eyes though....had to hurt."

Her own tattoos were openly visible. Not all of them, but many. Arching her brow she asked, "the curious, talky, little thing wonders what they mean...those symbols."

[Melara]

“Ay,” John answered honestly, his forehead knit and his jaw set. “We also got another wave. Doesn’t matter. Gives us a chance to skin both the bastards at one go, savvy?”

Lifting a hand he cupped her face, fixing her eyes with his. “And skin them I will, I swear it.”

**

“Pain is subjective, pretty little talky thing,” Yin replied with a bitter smirk, before he suddenly straightened and fixed a glare on his companion. “Nike, you need to eat something. Ma shang. Don’t make me shove it down your throat.”

[kahl]

Drawing her silver case up onto her lap, Jack gave Yin a shifty glance then popped it open just enough to slip out a small silver vial. Unscrewing the cap she tapped a tiny cm wide tablet into her hand, which she then extended toward Yin. "Here. Put this in her drink...it'll sustain her strength and energy when she won't eat. I can give you the name of the pharmaco that distributes them."

Avoiding his eyes as she returned the vial to the case and carefully locked it. Jack mumbled, "No sense in forcing her. My experience...folks that don't want to eat will just purge it after anyway."

Tucking the case safely under her arm, she sank back into the couch again then lifted her eyes to the door as Stewart entered with Kaige and Madhi in tow.

"Everyone stay put. Crew meeting." Stewart said no more than that, moving to the bar to get himself a drink.

Madhi started toward Jack to sit down, but Kaige slid in beside the turquoise haired woman first. "Hello..." he cooed suavely then smiled. "I'm Kaige. Kaige Sol. And you are...?"

"Definitely too old for you." Jack arched a blue-green brow and smirked at him. Kaige's jaw bobbed open and closed like a confused carp until he looked to Madhi.

"What is she like...on mega hormones or something?"

Jack chuckled, "or something..."

Madhi rest a hand on Kaige's shoulder then drifted toward Stewart to get herself a drink. "Best not to question the lady's resolve, Kaige...or make her feel uncomfortable, as we all have to live together for a while."

John and Kahl strode in next, the fierce warrioresque woman standing tall again, bristled and ready for confrontation, although she merely looked over their new crew members and said nothing.

[Melara]

Yin looked down at the tiny pill in his hand but said nothing as the others started filing in. Going over to Nike’s side he picked up her drink and dropped the pill into it. She watched him without expression. He shoved the bottle back toward her with a stern look and she took it, before returning her gaze back outside.

John wasted no time as he entered. “I ain’t gonna powder-puff this,” he said. “We’re going after Aerc the Red. Like as not as some of you know he’s already teamed up with Sohn Harra. We’ve got Ishkar’s support as well as a few others but this is going to be a messy cao no matter how it’s sliced. I need all options on the table right now.”

[kahl]

Jack had traveled enough, lived on enough planets, skyplexes and ships to know who Aerc the Red was. It didn't even matter beyond that who this Sohn Harra person was, Aerc the Red was bad enough. She new his type. Maybe not quite so psychotic, a more typical street-brand of aggressor, but she knew his type and knew it was not something to triffle with.

Sitting slack jawed and wide eyed, she scanned over the other faces in the room. At least most everyone else looked as uncomfortable with the idea as she felt. "I, um..." Jack's throat felt tight. "I don't know who any of those other people are...but I know who Aerc is." She gestured to Madhi. "And I was filled in on the situation."

She scratched at her temple then at the back of her neck, nervous that all eyes were on her and she seemed to be the least bad-ass person in the room. "Seems to me the simplest solution to any situation is the safest and best route to take. Why not just agree to the trade...and when everyone is present have this...uh Ishkar person and whoever else help us--er--...you, help you to jump him. I mean, there's got to be at least one sniper-shot among you or your friends, right? Gui...even I can hit a target from a good distance."

Paling suddenly at Kahl's heavy stare, Jack stammered, "but...you know...I'm not a tactician or...or even handle weapons...often...I..." Am shutting up now, she thought.

"Can you guarantee a hit?" Kahl's fiery glare burned down on Jack.

"Kahl, c'mon. I can handle a snipe--"

"No." Kahl pointed a finger at Stewart for him to shut up. "You'll be next to me and John." Her eyes fell back to Jack who was squirming in her seat. "CAN.YOU.GUARANTEE. A. HIT?"

Swallowing hard, Jack nodded slowly. She was an excellent shot. Always had been, even at archery. "Shi a...." she promised with a sigh. "Shi a...I can get a hit."

"I'm talking death, Moon. Can you take a human life?" Kahl's eyes narrowed.

"Yeah - I know what sniping is. I caoing suggested it!" Jack snapped back.

Madhi rose and touched Kahl's arm. "She'll do fine, Kahl. If Jack says she can do it...she can do it." The Symphilia glanced over at Jack with a nod, indicating her confidence in the woman.

Jack drew a deep breath and stared down at a tattoo inscribed on the inside of one wrist. It's meaning bore into her and she lifted that hand to swipe at her mouth, turning her head aside to stare vacantly at the wall wondering what the Gui she'd just agreed to...and why the Frak she did that.

[Melara]

"Both Nike and I are quiet as gui," Yin said, his arms folded as he all but loomed over the still seated Nike. "You got even the tiniest duct and Nike'll get into it, gnaw on their wires...get me? And if you just need some necks snapped we're good for that too."

[kahl]

Stewart nodded emphatically. "I agree with Jack. It's as sound a plan as we're going to get. In fact, it's blunt enough they just might not expect it."

"Never assume Sohn won't expect it." kahl glowered in Stewart's direction. "My brother is a psychotic Zhu Bajie, but he's caoing brilliant. He'll be expecting nothing and ready for everything."

Turning to eye Jack, Kahl added, "I want them both dead. Aerc and Sohn."

Trying not to visible bristle at her words, Jack cleared her throat and asked, "Sohn looks like you then? Blond...tall...?"

"Not remotely." Kahl's reply offered up no further explanation as she turned away. Walking to John she dipped her chin and met his eyes, trying to maintain her predatory stance. "You're going to have to make this look real, John. Aerc'll never believe it otherwise. I'll need to be bound--and I'm not going to let you do that without a fight."

Madhi gasped, "You can't be serious?! You want him to beat you up?!"

"She's right, Madhi," Jack and Stewart supplied in unison. Gesturing with a nod of concession, Jack fell silent while Stewart added, "Aerc will never believe that John is serious if Kahl doesn't look unwilling. He's psychotic, but not stupid. He'd just kill his hostages and find some other way to come after Kahl."

Kahl tightened her jaw, her lashes flashing over her cold eyes. "So...let's get this over with..." she muttered tightly. "We're wasting time."

[Melara]

John looked from his wife to his pilot. “Kaige, get us floating ay?”

His eyes then shifted to Yin and Nike. “You two…they’ll have a woman and a boy with them…either ready to make the trade or holding them somewhere if they plan on a double-cross. I have to be with Kahl and Stewart. I’m putting their lives in your hands.”

This clearly wasn’t easy for him. He barely knew Yin and Nike and to be honest, he didn’t much like Yin at all…and the girl, well…

Yin bobbed his head slightly. “We’ll deliver them as pretty as you please.”

[kahl]

"What about me?" Jack asked, shifting to the edge of the couch.

Stewart crossed to her and gestured for her to rise. "Let's dump your stuff in a cabin, then I want to see you in the firing range...make sure you can handle a rifle, good as you claim."

Jack bobbed her head feeling slightly insulted as if he'd called her a liar but they didn't know her any more than she did them, so it was a fair challenge. As Stewart led Jack out he paused long enough to implore John and Kahl. "You need me...call. I mean it."

Once Stewart had herded everyone out, instructing Madhi to escort Yin and Nike to a cabin, or two, depending on their preference, Kahl fixed her eyes on John and extended an open palm bearing two zip ties for her hands and feet. "Let's get this over with..." she murmured.

- - - -

Madhi sacheted down the hall. She couldn't help it, though she tried to be mindful and not swing her hips too much. Yin still unsettled her and the last impression she wanted to make was that she would be a willing hire. Reaching the port-side cabins, she stopped and gestured. "We've one large guest cabin for you to share...or there are two individual crew cabins. I leave the choice to you. Feel free to make yourselves at home in either."

Shrugging she gestured down the hall. "Kaige and I have rooms on the starboard, and the Captain's and XO's quarters are at the far ends of each hall. If either of you need something, I'll be on the bridge with Kaige. As this plan does not seem to require my participation."

- - - -

After depositing her things in the room next to Kaige's and across from Madhi's large client-friendly guest suite, Jack followed Stewart to the firing range. She was impressed to see one of such size on a ship this small, but then, they were pirates, shi a, so it made sense. Once inside she stood admiring the wall of weaponry, none of it hidden from view in any discernible way.

Suddenly Stewart shoved a long range, armor and hull-piercing rifle into her hands. Looking it over Jack muttered to herself, mostly. "Daumer-Hansen SSF-1721, silenced, multi-caliber chamber...I thought these were illegal--"

"They are." Stewart handed her a magazine preloaded with tiny .22mm rounds. She immediately shoved it in. "Fire off four at the target there. Two in the head, two in the chest. If the grouping is good...then we'll try with preferred rounds. Big ones."

Jack nodded and without waiting for Stewart's consent, she turned and at an angle, as far from the target as one could get without being outside the room, Jack fired off four shots in a sharp staccato as if not even aiming.

"Gorrammit, woman! I meant from over there--!" Stewart barked at her. Thankfully the rifle's design was meant for stealth, otherwise his ears would be ringing.

"That isn't very long-range...over there...." Jack pointed out with a mumble.

Stewart stormed across the firing range while grunting in his gravel baritone, "let me replace it...you can go...a....again..." He stopped and stared at the target.

Two holes. There were only two holes.

"Did I do it okay?" Jack asked with what Stewart could swear was genuine nervousness.

"Shi a..." he chuckled as he checked the ballistics gel behind the target and verified that all four bullets were there. "Fraking brilliant, actually."

Changing the sheet, he then turned and strode back smiling--although he wagered she couldn't tell. "Let's try that with some .416s...."

[Melara]

John reached forward, taking the zip ties in one hand, his grip clasping over her fingers as he did. With his other hand he reached out and gently cupped her cheek, swiping his thumb over her skin, all the love and affection he had for her shifting in his eyes.

Then his lashes lowered a bit and he dropped his hand a moment before he fisted it and sent it looping toward her.

[kahl]

The punch spun Kahl around and sent her to her knees. Most women--most people would have wept to be hit by their lover. Kahl's eyes lit up with a bestial ferocity. Tears would come later, when she felt the binds of restraint returning her to that vulnerable helplessness that Aerc and Sohn so loved to instill.

Her first attempt to stand failed and she sagged back to her forearms and crawled forward a pace away from him, blood dripping from her lip where he'd hit her. Pushing up enough she turned and slammed her boot into his pelvis...just above his groin. She did, after all, love him.

As he doubled over she swung her leg, hooking it over his head and neck and pulled him forward to the floor. The woman then rose up enough to bring her own fist down in a jab that slammed into his eye.

- - - -

Lifting her brows before heading off to see that Kaige was okay, Madhi asked Yin and Nike, "do either of you require anything else before I go?"

[Melara]

John could take a hit...he would never have survived this long if he could not. He had gold teeth from previous fights, and was not one to lay addled when struck, even by the surprisingly heavy hitter that was his wife. Blinking stars out of his eyes he swung his arm, catching her on the shoulder with enough force to knock her to the side. Instantly he rolled atop her and landed a blow to her gut and to her chin. The bark she made as her air exploded outward made him wince, and he fought the heat that wanted to rise in his eyes.

**

"Bit of a loaded question," Yin smirked meaningfully. Nike merely lit another smoke, half-glancing around the room as if she were of the highest echelons of society determining if the space she'd been assigned was good enough.

[kahl]

Madhi's eyes narrowed only the slightest, then she replied evenly, "you couldn't afford me."

Without further word, she turned and made her way to the bridge. As she dropped into the seat beside Kaige she grunted in a most unlady-like fashion. He was the only to ever see her out of "Symphilia-mode". It was rare, but it happened. "I dislike this whole situation," she pouted. "And I especially dislike that thug they brought aboard. Something about him chills my blood."

Kaige was focused on navigating the heavily trafficed space around the Capernum skyplex, but he answered thoughtfully. "I dunno...John and Kahl and Stewart are all good judges of character. I don't think they'd have brought him on if he wasn't safe or trustworthy." His eyes twitched a rapid blink then eased the throttle up as they shifted into open space. "'Sides...isn't Stewart proof enough that most of those men that go out of their way to seem big, mean and scary are really soft-hearted and gentle..? Maybe he has his reasons for acting the psycho-role. Like that dirtball of a girl he brought with him. Maybe he just does it to protect her. Keep the baddies away, dong ma?"

"I guess..." Madhi muttered then sighed heavily. "You think they're going to make us go to where Aerc and Sohn are? I mean...last thing I can handle is to be in the same room as that Zhu Bajie..."

"Nah. I see no reason." Kaige shrugged then looked at Madhi with a lifted brow. "So...what's the deal with that new girl? You know...the clean one...?"

- - - -

Unable to breath, Kahl curled her arms and slammed an elbow into John's jaw with a force that might have knocked another tooth out if she'd hit in the right place. As he blinked to clear his vision, Kahl shoved him back and She brought her hands, double-fisted, onto his shoulders to knock him downward. She kicked him in the gut as pay-back for knocking her wind out, but John slammed her hamstring with the side of his hand, then gripped her ankle and pulled her off her feet.

The woman fell backward and smacked her head with an audible crack on the floor. Dazed she seemed to forget who she was fighting and drew her switchblade out, ready to stab and slice. Seeing that things were getting out of hand quickly, John swallowed back his guilt and said one phrase that he knew would paralyze her long enough for him to overtake her.

"I never should have come back for you."

Kahl froze, blind-sided by the vulgar insult. Memories flashed in her mind of that day. He'd helped Stewart to the door where someone was able to help him...then he'd come back for her. Knowing now that Aerc wasn't dead as they'd thought...it made the statement only that much more cruel.

Taking the opportunity, John smacked the blade from her hand and gripped her wrist. She was far too easily spun and pushed face down onto the carpet then. The fight drained out of Kahl and she lay, face down on the floor. Now the tears came as she complacently let him bind her wrists. When he gripped her ankle however, Kahl screamed, "NNNNNOOOO! NO! No--you can't! NO!!"

Although she kicked wildly, he managed to gather her ankles and secure them. As soon as he released them, Kahl curled into a fetal position and sobbed.

[Melara]

Sitting back, John’s first instinct was to cradle his ribs where she’d kicked him. He did not, instead crawling forward a bit, his trembling fingers brushing the hair away from her damp cheek. Bending forward, he gently kissed her cheek, then whispered in her ear. “I love you, ay?”

He wanted to say more but his throat refused to cooperate. Gritting his teeth he got to his feet, then stooped and hefted her, swinging her over his shoulder in a fireman’s hold before heading toward the brig.

**
As soon as the door shut, Madhi having gone, Yin stretched his arms wide to an audible cracking of his neck and spine. Nike had sat down, cigarette dangling from her lip as she opened the satchel on her lap. Walking over Yin crouched and put his hand on it to prevent the lid from opening.

“C’mere,” he said, reaching for her chin. She jerked her head away and he glowered, gripping it firmly. “Nike, stop.”

When it became clear she would not jerk away again his hold on her chin softened as he looked at her eyes. Releasing her chin he brushed a grungy lock of her hair away, revealing a scar along her neck. Faint, it bore even twists of white tissue. Having seen the scar a hundred times his eyes didn’t even move to it, simply settling her hair back behind her shoulder before he dropped his hand.

“You need to eat more,” he said. “If we’re going to be any use to this crew-“

“We really going after the Red?” Nike asked, her voice soft and drawling with the clear thick accent of Savon Upper.

“Shi a. We’ll see if he’s red on the inside as well.”

“Everyone’s red on the inside,” she said bitterly, taking out her smoke. He smirked, then sat back on his heels and jerked his head toward the door to the facilities. “You need a shower.”

“Frak all.”

“You smell. Shower. Sanitize your clothes. And then real food, Nike. You need to be ready for this. I don’t want you fainting away-“

She scowled, rising and shoving her satchel at him. “I ain’t never fraking fainted,” she growled, before turning and striding off toward the bathroom. Yin set the satchel aside with a grunt.

“Yet.”