Chapter Four

Jeremiah starts to face his demons as he meets with his mechanic, and Thomas has some news about work.

Chapter Four

Sedna Station

Dwarf planet 90377 Sedna

Sol System

Ariella’s head was spinning.  It felt as if someone were inside her brain, pounding to get out.  Her eyes felt heavy as she struggled to open them.  Her instincts told her to analyze her surroundings as quickly as possible.  The room was dimly lit.  A light hung over her, and soft glows radiated from the walls.  She felt cold.  There was a faint whistling noise from somewhere she couldn’t quite make out yet.  As her vision slowly came back, she could make out more of the room.  There were metallic tables lining the walls and machines that seemed to be of a medical nature were scattered about.  

She tried to sit up but found that she couldn’t move. She twisted and pulled but it was no use, she was strapped down to a table. This was it.  She had been caught.  And worse, she had been drugged to the point she could do nothing to save herself.  Her head tossed from side to side, trying to better see where she was.  That’s when she noticed a body slumped over in a corner, a man in a doctor’s coat, his neck broken at a ninety-degree angle.  Her mind began to race.

That damn whistling kept going.   She tried to bend her neck around and finally she could make out the source, a figure behind her looming over one of the tables.  A man?  No, some kind of machine?  It was hard to tell. Its movements sounded mechanical, but the way it was moving was almost certainly human.  

“Where am I?” She managed to say barely over her breath.  “Who are you?”

The man stopped whatever it was he was doing and turned to her.

“Oh good.  You’re awake. Nasty stuff I stuck you with, isn’t it?”  His voice was human.  As he moved in to view she could finally make him out in detail. His face was all but glowing, like his skin was made of diamonds.  A section of his skull seemed to be missing, replaced with a circuit board like patch, covered with open plugs and sensors, and he wore random pieces of body armor… no… not a armor, his arms were machines.  She did her best to fight it, but she could feel the fear taking over.  Still, she did her best to remain calm.

“You’re a cyborg.  Didn’t think there were any of you left in civilized space.”

“Well, that’s a rather rude and outdated term for my kind,” he said with a tinge of annoyance in his voice.  “Still, it’s true, our species has had a rough go since the culling. And now, with those wholly organic, vat grown body parts, why would anyone want a biomechanical solution?”  He was looking down at his own hands, flexing and squeezing them, as if analyzing his own form. “But if you ask me, which you are, there is something beautiful about the unison of man and machine.  After all, is not the human body one of natures most complex machines?  What better way to honor human kind than to because one with our own creations.  But, I wouldn’t worry about my kind.  I’d be far more concerned with your own, right now.”

What the hell does that mean?  Ariella wondered.

“You’re out of your mind. There’s a reason why your kind was hunted down and exterminated.  What’s going on?  Who are you?”  Her words slurred a bit as she struggled with consciousness.  Her vision was finally back and she suddenly realized why she was so cold.  She was naked?    That’s when snapped.

“What the f**k is going on?” She screamed, struggling in her restraints trying to break free.

“Calm down, calm down.  I’m just fixing your shoulder.” He said in a politely metallic voice.

Her shoulder.  That’s right, she had been shot.  She tried glancing at it.  It was covered in bio foam, sizzling as latticework of newly forming skin began welding her flesh back together.

“And I needed to be naked for that?” she shouted.

“Oh no, not at all.” The man said, as if he forgot she was lying there nude.  “You need to be stripped for cryo.”

The word sounded like a distant echo in her dizzy head.  Cryo. If she hadn’t been panicking before, she was near hysterical now.  She could break herself free from almost any prison, but being frozen, that was a different story.  She had heard stories about people locked up in cryo, forced to suffer their own thoughts for decades.  That was the thing about cryo, sure it could keep you alive for a long time, but to keep from waking up brain dead, your brain had to stay active.  That meant drug induced dream states.  She yelled in pain as the straps dug in to her as she tried to wrench herself free, but she was stuck.  Her heart was pounding and her vision was starting to blur again.

"Are you with Central?"  She asked, her words forming with increasing difficulty.

"Central?  The Central Systems Alliance?  No.  I mean, they do hire me from time to time, but this job isn’t on their credit." The man began walking over from the table, loading a small vile into an air syringe.

Ariella could see it from the corner of her eye.

"What is that?  Why am I getting so dizzy?" She demanded.

"That would be the cryo juice filling your veins.  It will slow down your metabolism; keep your cells from cracking during the freeze.  And I’ve been told it will also give you some very nasty dreams.” He flashed a sinister grin.  “And this? " He lifted the syringe and stabbed it in to her still wounded shoulder. "This is just a little something to help you recover. Can’t have you going in to shock once you’re iced."

The pain was like a hot spike coursing through her arm and down her spine.  She tried to hold back a scream but couldn't.

"Don't worry." He said, "That shoulder will heal like new.  I'm not getting paid to hurt you Ms. Darzi, just to catch you.  Believe me, if I was being paid to hurt you... You'd be in far worse pain."  The man walked back to the table and set down the syringe.

"If you're not with central,” she said, beginning to stutter,  “then who are you working for?"

The Cyborg looked to ponder the question for a moment.

“I’m afraid I don’t discuss my clients.  But I’ve been following you for a while now, and I must admit, I admire you.  So, I’ll leave you with the knowledge that perhaps, you shouldn’t trust anyone.”

With that final piece of cryptic knowledge, the cryo juice had finally taken hold and her world once again went dark.

*****

Despite renting one of the more luxurious rooms in a flophouse near the market, with a bed he could only describe has a heavenly cloud when compared to his ships bunk, Jeremiah had a rough nights sleep.  It seemed his thoughts were starting to get the better of him.   His chat with the Old Man had rattled something in him.  What was he doing with his life?

This wasn’t what he had been promised.  When he joined the service, he thought he was doing the right thing.  He believed in the CSA’s cause.  But it cost him everything in the end.  It nearly cost him his life.  And now, the CSA, the ones he sacrificed it all for, have turned their backs on him, turned on their own people.  He could hear his wife’s voice echoing in his mind, fierce, full of fire and venom.

“You don’t know what you are doing, Jeremiah!  You have no idea what is out there!” She screamed at him.

“And you’re a coward!  Our people need us!  Now more than ever. How can you sit there while they strike at the very core of what we believe in?” Jeremiah shouted back, blinded by his own self-righteous desires.  At least, he knew now that’s what it was.  He played the fights back in his mind over and over.  A sharp pain formed in his chest and he found it difficult to breathe.  

It had been nearly fifteen years since he had come back from the Plague War to find an empty home and a missing wife.  The CSA had turned their back on him and refused to help, citing no evidence of foul play.  But that never sat right with him.  After spending too much time digging, he managed to piss off enough people that he was forced out of the military.  Blacklisted.  The only job he could get was a freelance hauler with a ship he purchased with his pension, a career that would eventually lead him to one bad decision after another.  It wasn’t long before he was in bed with criminals and the black markets.  He suddenly felt a surge of shame.

As he lay there on the ridiculously soft bed he rolled his head towards the nightstand where he his terminal was glowing with messages.  He reached for it, silently thanking it for the distraction from his mind.  He had received a few messages during the night, a few from his buyers, one from Thomas, and one from his mechanic, Alec.

Hey J.  Got your request, drop by when you get a chance. Alec.  

Great.  He thought.  Hopefully today would be more promising than the last.  

Jeremiah sat up in the bed and looked over the room he had rented the night before.  He wasn't on station enough these days to own his own place and he managed to get a decent rate after offering some a couple of pills to the manager to help with his ...marital issues.  It was much more cozy than the bunk on his ship.  It was an actual bed for starters.  With a real cotton and down mattress.  Real running water in the shower.  Lights that didn't flicker.  It was nice.  But couldn’t sit there all day dreaming of better things.  He had work to do.

After a hot shower with real water, rather than sonic vibrations to shake off the dirt, he got dressed and headed down the hotels lift.  He passed the managers desk but no one was there.  Guy was probably off enjoying the product he'd given him.  He had finally reached the stations main shuttles, took a breath, and started his day.

As he moved his way through the stations transit system, he found his thoughts drifting from his errands to the conversation he had the day before with the Old Man.  He really should listen to him, take more time with him.  He was really all Jeremiah had left.  He felt guilt washing over him.  The Old Man drove him insane most of the time.  When he had started dating his daughter, the Old Man hated Jeremiah.  And when he proposed, the Old Man all but turned his back on his daughter and family.  Over time though, the wounds began to heal.  Then Jeremiah left for the war and when he returned, his wife, the old mans only daughter, has vanished with out a trace.  The disappearance brought them closer together, but the old wounds never fully healed.  At times they blamed each other, others they consoled one another.  But this time, He knew the old man was right.  He was searching.  He needed to move on, but it all seemed so wrong.  He just couldn’t seem to let it go.  Before he realized it, his shuttle opened to one of the main engineering levels of the station and he was focusing back at the task at hand.  He needed to find Alec.  

Jeremiah had known Alec since he was a child.  They had met nearly a decade ago shortly after the Border Wars had ended.  In fact, it was Alec's father who sold Jeremiah the Reverie.  But He was nothing like his father.  His father was a drunk.  Incompetent and abusive.  He had been running his business in to the ground.  Alec was a child prodigy.  A boy genius.  As his fathers health faded, he finally took over the shop and brought it back to life.

Jeremiah finally found the hangar he was looking for.  Alec had purchased one of the largest civilian hangers on E deck and as such, it was filled with small ships and parts.  Everything from passenger shuttles to private frigates and haulers like his own.  The sounds of countless machines whirred and clanked inside, filling the air with a cacophony of metal and the odor of engine oils and fuels.  A small repair drone rolled up and crashed in to his foot.

"Ah, son of a …"  He mumbled to himself.

"Sorry!  Sorry, I'm coming!  Hang on!  Don't leave!"  The shouting came from the back of the hangar.

"Alec?   That you?" Jeremiah shouted back

A small head popped up above a row of disembodied cockpits.

"J!  Hey buddy!"  It was Alec, covered head to town in grease and oil.  He started climbing down a small ladder as Jeremiah began walking towards him, carrying the defunct repair drone.

Alec was a fairly small kid.   Only in his early twenties.  Young by any standard.  And he was thin.  Very thin.  But he was toned from spending his whole life working on ships.  All in all, he was about half the size Jeremiah was.

"J, what's going on?  How is everything? Oh hey, let me take that." Alec reached for the drone taking it from him. "Sorry, she's been acting a little off lately.  I think some solar radiation is leaking through the doors..."  

Jeremiah had no idea what he was talking about, but let him finish.

"Yeah, hey, so you've had a chance to look at my list?" Jeremiah asked

"Oh, I get it.  Straight to business.  Alright."

"Sorry Alec.   Yesterday was a bit stressful.  I had some issues with Simon and a new buyer."  He paused.  "And the Old Man."  He decided to skip the part about his dreams.

Alec gave an understanding noise.

"How is the old guy?  Last I saw him, he didn't look so good."

"He's still refusing to take the therapy." Jeremiah said with a heavy sigh.

Over the years, Jeremiah and Alec had developed a pretty good friendship.  It was Alec and Thomas who looked after the Old Man when Jeremiah was off doing jobs.

"Well, hey, how long has it been?  I feel Like I haven't seen you in forever?"

"Been about a year I guess.  Just came back from Tau Ceti working with some new contacts."

"Oh, and how was that?"

"You know, same pretentious prick socialites in every other system."

"Whoa, hey, careful now.  Those pretentious pricks might just be listening to us." Alec mocked.  An awkward silence followed, then they both laughed.

"Come on, I'll show you what I got for you" Alec said as he began guiding Jeremiah towards a storage room near the back.

"So this is all of it, yeah?" Jeremiah asked, surprise at how empty the storage room was.

"Well, actually, it's just what you can afford." Alec said in an uneasy tone. "I gotta be honest J, things are getting tough out here so I can't really give you any more credit.  And this is a bit generous really."

"S**t, Alec.  You gotta give me more than this.  Come on, I'm sure we can work something out.

Alec crossed his arms and slumped his face in to his hand.  A moment later he spoke.

"Alright.  Take me with you."

"What?" Jeremiah asked confused

"Take me with you!"

"What do you mean take you with me?  Take you where?"

"On your ship!  Come on!  It'll be awesome."

"Have you ever even been off this station?"Jeremiah asked

"No!  that's what I'm talking about.  Take me with you on your next job.  I wanna see the galaxy, J.  I've been on this station my whole life"

"I don't know.  I’ve been flying solo for nearly a decade."

"Well, just think about it.  Who better to have with you than a genius mechanic?"

Jeremiah had to admit he had a point there.  He would be a very useful crewman.  He could fix things on the fly, get the ship back in shape.  Hell it might be nice to have someone to talk to every now and then.

"No way" Jeremiah said.

"Ah, hell, J.  Why not?

Jeremiah refused to answer.  Truth be told, he didn't have a good reason.  He actually sort of like the solitude of his missions.  Or maybe he was just afraid of change.  Just then he received a ping from Thomas on his transmitter.

Stop by ASAP.  Got some news.   Great.  Sounds like a job just came up.

"Just, see what you can do with this stuff.  I have some credits I can get you.  And once I sell a few more things, I can get you a bit more."

"Great!  I love you, J, but your I.O.U.'s don't buy my dinner." Alec replied with a tinge of sarcasm.

One thing Jeremiah never missed about being planet side was the relentless back and forth through the transit systems.  Such a pain in the a*s.  The Hangers where Alec ran his shop from where up on the military decks, a good hour’s shuttle ride away from Thomas’ bar in the Market district.  By the time he finally got there, half the day was already gone.   When He walked in, Thomas was behind the bar serving a drink, but he saw Jeremiah and motioned for him to head towards the back.

“Mr. Massey, follow me please.” Tanya, the waitress from before showed up out of nowhere to take Jeremiah by the arm and bvegan guiding him to a storage locker back behind the kitchen.  It wasn’t quite a meat locker, but it was pretty cold.  The walls were lined with shelves of food, bottles, and various restaurant supplies.  In the middle of the ceiling was a single light fixture that shown down on a small square table with a few chairs around it.

“Mr. Ward will be right with you.” Tanya said.

Jeremiah turned to say thank you, but she was already gone.

Awkward…  He sang to himself.   He took it upon himself to have a seat while he waited.  But it wasn’t long.  A moment later Thomas came through the open door and closed it behind him.

“What’s with the cloak and dagger, Tom?” Jeremiah mused.

“I may have found something for you.  But you probably won’t like it.”  Thomas said as he walked to the table and took a seat.

“Alright.” Jeremiah replied cautiously.  “Let’s hear it.”

Thomas took in a deep breath.  “That new guy I mentioned.  Seems he’s just developed a certain need for a delivery man.”

“A delivery man?  I think I can handle that.  What’s the package?”

“That’s one of the stipulations.  No questions.  No details.  If you accept the job you’ll get the desto cords transmitted to you after you depart the station and make your first jump.”

“What?  That doesn’t make any sense, Tom.  I gotta know what the first jump is or I could end up going in a giant circle.”

“I know.  Look.  All I know is you’ll end up in the Pictoris Region.”

That took Jeremiah by surprise.

“What?” He shouted.   The Pictoris region, also known as the Fringe because it was out past the fringe of humanity, was one of the furthest regions mankind has ever traveled.  As far as he knew there weren’t even any settlements out that far.  And worse.  Beyond Pictoris was the quarantine region.  An area of space no man had traveled to in over 1000 years.  All kinds of strange legends and horror stories surrounded that place.

“Hey, I know! I said, you my not like it.”

“Damn right, I don’t like it.  What kind of job asks a man to go out to the quarantine zone on faith alone?” He yelled.

“I didn’t say quarantine zone.  I said Pictoris.  My sources say there are at least a half dozen research stations out there.  Most funded by the CSA themselves.  So really, there is probably nothing to worry about.”

“No way, Tom.”

“Alright, then I wont tell you how much it pays.”

“How much does it pay?”  Jeremiah asked curiously

“Oh, you want to know how much it pays?”

“Don’t do that…” Jeremiah said

“I’m sorry, are you interested now?”  Thomas mocked.

“Yes, I’m interested.  Tell me the pay.”

“Two-fifty.”  Thomas said matter of fact.

“That’s a joke right?  You’re asking me to fly to Pictoris for 250,000 credits.  F**k off.”

“Two hundred and fifty million, J.”  Thomas said, extending the word million to add emphasis.

Jeremiahs jaw actually dropped.

“Now I know you’re joking.  No transport job is worth that much.” Jeremiah said, getting a bit confused and frustrated with the conversation.

“J.  This could set you up for life.  This could be your last job ever.  You can start a new life with this.”  Thomas said, all but pleading with him.

“What’s wrong with my life?” Jeremiah asked defensively.

“J, I’m your friend.   And I’ve been watching you for the last ten years.  It’s time to move on.  The war is over.  The life you had before is over.  Things change. “

Jeremiah stood up from the table, getting visibly more upset with the discussion.

“You’ve been spending too much time with the old man, Tom” He said, stabbing a finger towards him.

Thomas just sat back in his chair and sighed.

“J.  You know what we’ve been through together.” Thomas’ voice was calm and sympathetic.  “You’ve saved my life more than a few times.  I’ve got nothing but love for you, brother.  And as your friend, I’m begging you.  Take this job.  An easy in and out.  Grab your money and move on with your life.  Get yourself a nice estate on one of those Class N planets.  You know, the ones with all the resorts and islands everywhere.”

Jeremiah was pacing about the small storage locker as he listened.  The words were all true.  Just like the Old Mans.  Maybe this was the right move.  He stopped and went back to his chair.

“Look, I can’t just up and leave for the Fringe, Tom.  I’ve got a deal with Simon.  I’m supposed to deliver a new shipment to him in a couple of weeks.  Hell, I haven’t even sold off what I brought this round.”  Jeremiah sighed and sat back down in the chair.

“What the hell is Simon going to do to you, eh?  It’s freaking Simon.  You’ve been working with that guy for half a decade.  Besides.  You’ll be in Pictoris.”

“I don’t know, Tom.”  He said, nearly in defeat.

“Jeremiah.  Man.  You need this.  You can’t keep doing this to yourself.  You deserve better.  You can get better.  Now I know this job seems a little bit crazy-“

“Hell a bit crazy.” Jeremiah interrupted.  Thomas threw up his hands placating.

“But think about what this could mean for you.”

Jeremiah turned away, surveying the room around him for nothing in particular.

“Alright.  Tell me everything you know.”

On the walk back to his rented room Jeremiah began running over the details that Thomas had laid out.   He had been true to his word, there wasn’t a lot of information to be shared, but Thomas had taken the liberty to look in to the guy offering the job, and while there was less information on the man himself, the possible routes to the Fringe were at least someone what documented.  Any way he jumped to the Pictoris region could be extremely dangerous.  The area was effectively abandoned by the CSA a few centuries ago. Apparently, several expeditions had been lost to unknown causes.  Since then, the territories became a free for all.  Anything goes. It had been rumored the Shadow Cartel, one of the more mysterious terrorist organizations around, had populated some of the many systems along the way.  No one really knew much about them.  Occasionally they would take over a live news broadcast, spew some anti-government, anarchist rhetoric, or show up at special government events and were often blamed for the mysterious deaths of politicians and corporate figurehead’s galaxy wide.  They were as much a modern day Boogey Man as the Wan-Ren themselves.  Yes, if Jeremiah was going to take this job seriously, it would most likely be dangerous.

When he finally reached his room he sat down on the bed and pulled out his terminal.  He began a list of everything he thought he might need for this job.  After a while of thinking and typing, he looked over the list.  No way Alec will give me this stuff on credit.  S**t.   He tossed the tablet on to the bed beside him and lied down.  What am I getting myself in to?  He thought.  Then something clicked.  He sat up, grabbed the terminal and loaded the list into a message.

Alec, if you want to come with me, have all of this on my ship by 0800, station time.  No questions.   He wasn’t sure if Alec would take him seriously or not, but if he did, Jeremiah would have damn near an entirely new ship by morning, as well as a genius engineer crewman.  He decided to one more message.

Hey pops.  I got a big job so I’ll be leaving early.  I’m sorry I can’t stay longer.

As he typed the message he felt even worse.  But given the information he’d just received, doing this job would help to achieve exactly what the Old Man wanted from him.  He hit send and tossed the terminal back on the bed and laid down one more time.

He thought about the words Thomas had said.  And the words the Old Man had said.  He wasn’t sure what had changed, but he was beginning to think they were both right.  He was chasing the past, and with each day it grew farther and farther away.  An endless battle.  His wife was gone.  There was no proof anywhere that she was even alive let alone, wanted to be found. She was just gone.  Memories from his past washed over him, when they met, their wedding, all the beautiful moments they had shared together.  And like black oil poured into a serene lake, a cloud of dark moments began to wash over the good.  The fights, the distance, the judgment he felt from her.  All the thoughts and emotions began rolling together.  Anger, sadness, fear, frustration, guilt.  Before he realized, his vision grew blurry as tears welled up and began slowing streaming down his cheeks.

“Right.”  He said aloud.  Sitting up in the bed and shaking himself from his self pity.  He hadn’t realized it, but he had been drifting in and out of sleep for half the night.  He checked the time and saw it was already morning.  So much for this luxurious room, he quipped to himself.  He decided to clean himself up and head down to the dock early to prep his ship for launch.  If he wanted to avoid Simon, he’d have to get off Sedna in a hurry.  He washed his face, brushed his teeth and grabbed his belongings.  On his way out the door, he checked his terminal and saw a message from the Old Man.  Good luck was all it said.

Author's Note

First draft.