Just when Laura wanted to give it up, exhausted after previous long flight and search, scanner finally marked something what could be Erich´s Raven´s Talon. She carefully changed the course, evading largest gas pockets of the southern Omega-7 explosive gas pockets field. After few tens of minutes stopped her ship around ten meters from the damaged floating Raven´s Talon and looked at the cocpit closely, waving and trying to see if there is anybody inside. Then used the radio. "Erich, are you there? Do you see me?"
He was home now. Apartment H0L454. A cozy bed, a crackling self-regulated fireplace… All of the comforts within a luxurious planetside flat that one could ask for. He stirred in his cozy chair, eyes angling downward.
The day that he left for The Neu Berlin University; he was wearing the thick synthetic enviro-parka needed for safe outdoor travel on the dark side of the planet’s arctic surface. He got up from the chair, shouldering a pack full of the materials he would need to start his new life.
Erich’s heart crept into his lungs as he slowly made his way to his room’s door, finding a man and woman standing on the other side as it opened. They said nothing, simply stared. He began to sweat from the air’s tension, to say nothing of the stifling enviro-parka.
Finally, the woman -- Erich’s mother, he recognized -- spoke up.
“Erich, are you there? Do you see me?”
Piercing light flooded the scene, returning him to the flickering, sparking cockpit of a civilian snubcraft. His eyes weakly narrowed until taking in a ship hovering, stationary, in front of his.
Even though it likely was only a few seconds, Erich’s gaze seemed to stretch indefinitely upon the flickering warning signals of the ship’s displays. Every breath seemed as if it was strained through a cheesecloth. He wheezed out weakly, struggling to put his thoughts to words.
“I am here, and I see you. My oxygen is low, and my fuel is lower. Pressurize your suit, connect it to your ship’s oxygen supply… You may need to manually replace my H-fuel cells.”
He gasped for air again, before continuing.
“Afterwards… I care not what happens. Take me into custody if you feel the need. Anything to bring closure.”
"Damn...I always loved spacewalks near explosive gas pockets..." Laura said with obvious bit of irony and than manouvered her police Raven´s Talon as close as possible to Erich´s. Then started preparing everything needed.
Few minutes later she left the cocpit. It appeared that regular drill of emergency spacewalks which she had to do as space police officer periodically was worth it. As first she pumped over oxygen from her emergency tank into Erich´s. Then started to solve his fuel problem. "This is so romantic, Erich. Rendezvouz in the cloud..." said ironically again while working. "So you are telling me that I can bring to the arrest highly wanted Erich Klugmann, oberst of the Vereinigte Widerstandsarmee, de-facto leader of this organization? Yay..." Laura continued with signs of amusement in her voice. "Okay, now jokes aside, what the hell happened that you ended hier without help. Because I would expect that you will call for help to your people and not police officer, though it´s "just" me. And your willingness to be arrested...this doesn´t sound like Erich Klugmann which I knew before," she asked with much more serious voice while giving fuel into Erich´s ship.
As fuel returned and power was at least partially restored to most of the Raven Talon’s core life-support systems, Erich was able to vent some cooling air to his sweat-soaked skin through his contained flightsuit. Unwilling to drift into any of the nearby pockets of explosive gases, his Rheinlandic engine meekly sputtered an idling green flame.
He took a moment to take an unfettered, wholly relaxing breath within a cockpit-tomb where to even breathe normally was just earlier a luxury, before resuming his communications to Carsten.
“I needed to disappear. I needed to look at myself in a mirror and not feel responsible for each life that I either took by pulling a trigger… Each spoken or written order that in many cases would be the last I offered to some damn poor soul.”
He rolled his stiff neck, blearily blinking with bloodshot eyes.
“They aren’t my people. I still consider myself theirs. But… But I’ve vanished. Told nobody where I am, where I’ve been, what I did. If you want to capitalize on the massive bounty… Well. I suppose I would rather the reward in your hands than in anyone else’s.”
He cut the communication briefly, taking a moment to swallow gingerly
“I wasn’t strong enough, Carsten. Your side won.”
Laura returned to cockpit of her ship and started preparations for leaving. Then continued with discussion. "I´m flattered you chose me. But you know, people say that if somebody get´s rich too much and too quickly, it will ruin his soul. And I like my soul how is it now. So the massive bounty has to wait there for somebody else," she said with her usual ironic tone, trying to face depression she felt from Erich and also to mask confusion about what is going on. "I wonder who you mean by -my- side... But let´s talk during moving. I guess we should get out of hier before somebody will find us. Doesn´t matter who it will be, because he will almost for sure want to kill either me or you. Or even both in case of Corsairs. So you search some place to hide, ja? What about Heisenberg for start?" Laura summed up but then continued shortly. "But since when and why the hell -they- aren´t your people?"
“Your people in employ of the Rheinland Government; in the Federal Police. Your side, Laura.”
He ignites his weak engines to follow after her, narrowly avoiding the wispy drifts of Nebulaic gases.
“I suppose I could hide at Heisenberg. At least for a little while. I… I turned my back on my people because I broke. I couldn’t handle the pressure, the stress, and the death. So many dead…”
“If you aren’t going to turn me in, then I… I might just need a drink or five.”
"Hmm...the fact I´m standing on the same side with group of people doesn´t mean they are -my- side. We are just somehow standing there because there is few things that are connecting us. You should know that, you are standing on the same side as Hessians but you are not like them. Otherwise I would start shooting you long time ago and now you would rot in cell already," Laura said while they were cruising towards Stuttgart jump hole.
"Anyway...don´t be too harsh to yourself, ja? I don´t know what it is - to be a leader...well, I´m in fact happy that as just a detektiv I´m responsible just for myself...but everybody needs break sometimes. Things are tough around you generally, and then there was Zwick...err, bad events," she said, cursing to herself for late realizing that speaking about Zwickau incident would not be the best choice, and quickly changed the topic.
"We are approaching to Stuttgart jumphole. Let´s hope nobody will patrol there. Then we´re good, nebula will cover us quite good for half of the way through Stuttgart."
Erich is quiet for a long time as he follows behind Laura with sputtering engine holding itself together.
"What happens after this? If I return to my people? You know I've never tolerated the Bundesrepublik's policy and regime."
He inhales hoarsely, making good use of the limited oxygen availible.
"I want to keep all casualties to a minimum if I can... I always have. Zwickau changed everything, though. Many joined up with the Hessians or simply went radical. What do you... Suggest, Laura?"
Long silence came up while two ships were cruising through barren open space of Stuttgart system.
"It wouldn´t be for the first time in history when some movement splits into radical and moderate group. And I think this moment came for Bundschuh with...Zwickau. That doesn´t mean you did anything wrong. Your side...your side was not the one who did things wrong there," Laura said and made a long pause.
"You should lead those who don´t want to fight war full of blood. Only this will allow you to keep casualties to minimum...and to keep your own mental health. But I´m not sure if now, maybe you should Hide somewhere and take some time of rest. Recover from all the stress. And then think about all things before you will return to do anything. Because the more I know you...I´m more not sure if you are right person for this blood revolution business. Don´t get me wrong now, it´s just...it´s sad, but your sense of responsibility actually harms yourself. You can´t be a leader of radicals who wants to fight blood war, when you are who you are. There is nothing wrong with it...and with you. Problem is that other side has no problem with fightining and all the casualties it brings. And that can be faced only with same attitude, but bringing devastating results," she said after some time and then silence filled the radio again.
Carsten wanted to continue but didn´t know what to say more, thinking about everything again.
Erich, too, lingered on in silence for some time as his vessel strugged to keep pace with Laura's. Occasional "CRITICAL DAMAGE" warnings sprung upon visible HUD-displays within the cockpit's controls as the ship whirred and clunked along.
"I'll... I'll think about my next course of action in time, Laura. When we reach Heisenburg, I will be laying low; but only for a while."
He panned his hand to one of the damage warnings alight upon a sparking touchscreen beside him, switching its power off.
"There are several individuals that I will need to contact until then. You saved me, Laura... But may I ask one more favor of you?"