![[Image: bhbomber.jpg]](http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/8426/bhbomber.jpg)
The past few hours had gone well. Alex's contact, a corsair by the name of Julio, met them in space not far out of the freeport and after some conversation with Alex he transferred the needed jumphole locations. While Sonya didn't talk to him he seemed friendly enough, putting her at ease even before he left on his own business. Now they were in Omicron Gamma, several kilometers away from the Omicron Theta jumphole they had exited moments ago.
Alex starts to veer off to the mapped space of Gamma, keeping out of the patrol paths of the Corsairs, continuing the conversation they had been engaged in. "So, don't you fear dying in the Omicrons?"
Sonya doesn't hesitate in answering him. "Not really. You?"
He laughs, and shakes his head. "Scared as hell. I've got too much I want to accomplish before dying. But hey.. I won't let any old squid kill me off, eh?"
"Well I'm not looking forward to dying...just I'm not scared to the bone like most seem to be about this place."
He nods, and then becomes suddenly serious as he picks up a ship on scanners. "Contact.. Looks like, oh hey, it's Julio!" He waves out his windows as they pass by a titan, it's lights flashing, giving a good show. "That silly bastard."
She giggles as they pass. "I hope he isn't drunk."
"Are you kidding me? He's aallllwwways drunk! But he flies much better when he can't even see his own hands straight." He looks around, Crete more than fourty klicks to the left. "It's still a mildly long trip until Kappa.." He reclines on his seat, kicking his feet up onto his console. "Anything you feel like talking about?"
She pauses a moment thinking of their previous conversations. "Umm...well... You said you were in the navy?
"Ah yeah, right when I turned 18, I signed right up! They gave me some of the best fighter training around too. Spent a year or two in a Guardian, and asked for a Gunboat. They gave me one, and boy was she a beauty. I scared alot of pirates right into surrender after giving them a show."
"Really. I had thought about joining the LPI at one time...decided not to."
He shakes head. "They're a silly lot, good for cannon fodder back in the day. Now the Navy are the ones who are the laughing stock these days."
"Yeah, and I didn't like the idea of playing 'meter-maid'. I never did think about the navy."
"They're rough, but they're good on your record. I quit early due to an injury. Was on the wrong side of a Destroyer's Mortar, and caught a big chunk of shrapnel in my chest. Made it through though, and found me this boat not too long after."
"Ouch...good to hear you are alright though." She says, imagining such a thing.
He nods. "I decided to chase my dreams of exploring afterwards, I just never got far before, always had to fix up this girl here before I went anywhere long distance."
"And now?"
"Whatcha mean and now?"
"Umm....has it changed now?"
"My dreams? Not at all. And this boat here is as fixed up as she needs to be to travel for weeks!" He leans back in his chair, looking at the ceiling of his ship, sobering up. "Though, I do think about settling down sometimes."
"Settling down? Why, when there's so much to see and do..." She leans forward to get a better view of the system.
"Ah I know, but I've been wanting to have a family for a while now, do something other than just see the mysterious and dangerous."
"Yeah..I know the feeling...I think I'm just afraid I'll have it like my parents did."
"What happened with your parents?"
Sonya's tone changes as she explains. "Nothing 'happened', and that's exactly my point. Nothing ever happens with them. They sit on Planet Manhattan doing the same thing day after day. Was enough that when I was old enough to fly a ship, I learned and left as soon as I could." She leans back in her seat, trying to calm herself.
Alex nods, crossing his arms. "I think I would treat my girl nicely, if I was to find the right one.. I wouldn't just sit around arguing or just being lazy. I'd take her to see the worlds, the different stars.. Though, I'll probably avoid taking her out to the Omicrons like this, unless she happens to be just as brave as you."
She laughs slightly at him considering her brave. "I'll take that as a compliment then. Though I wasn't always so...'brave'."
"What changed that?"
"I met someone. A bounty hunter named Yelena. She taught me how to survive in space, and how to be effective in combat when needed. So I would go with her and help with her bounties, though my little Defender wasn't so good for it."
He nods, glancing at the navigation console. "About ten klicks out... So what are you going to do after you've seen all you can see?"
"Heh..I don't know....I try not to think about it. I figure I'll know by the time it comes. I used to believe I'd become a bounty hunter like Yelena, but not anymore."
He nods again. "Well hey, after this, how about I take you out for a dinner? Dodging death sure does work up an appetite for me."
She smiles, even though he can't see it. "Sounds good. I'm sure I'll be starved by then. These space rations don't do much for me.
The beep of a proximity alert sounds. "Here's the Kappa hole.. Meetcha on the other side."
She enters the hole first this time, grabbing the arms of her chair as the ship rattles around her.
[color=blue]Erie:
Alex enters the planetary docking rings.. the automated voice playing.. "Welcome to Erie, Mister Godwyn. Enjoy your stay" He looks at Sonya for a while as the ship flies itself to land. Having docked her ship on his earlier, Sonya watches from the cockpit of the Orca as it lands. She is still smiling from a conversation they had been engaged in only a moment ago, the end of which she kissed him, accidentally causing him to come close to flying into the atmosphere of Planet Erie. The hatches open automatically as they land, Alex walking past her and out of the ship, waving at an engineer.
"I want the life support, and everything else that isn't working, working on my gunboat in two hours." He throws a credit chip to the engineer, who stares at it for a moment, wide-eyed. "Right away sir!"
Sonya is already out of her seat standing at the hatch just outside the ship. Looking at him slightly surprised, she walks over as she speaks. "Two hours? Pretty quick for such a job don't you think?"
Alex points at the mob of engineers rushing behind them. "They say otherwise."
She laughs as she glances behind them. "Wow...ok, I guess they -can- get it done by then.."
"Well when you give them more than they make in a week.. Yeah they generally do that. I was thinking of fixing it myself eventually, good for relaxing, but I'd rather not run out of oxygen when I'm not wearing my gear, eh?"
"Yeah, that would be bad.. So, where is this place you've heard about?"
"Ah on the far side of this city, right on the edge of the lakes."
"Lakes? Sounds nice."
"Yeah, real fancy I hear. Expensive too, I'll probably end up spending quite a bit of my savings." He chuckles as he says this.
Having been watching the engineers, she turns back towards him, a mixed look of surprise and concern on her face. "No need to get -that- fancy."
He shakes his head. "It's not like I can't get that all back, you know. Besides, I need a bit of fancy myself."
She smiles at him. "Alright then."
Alex takes her hand as they walk through the well lit and decorated city. People come and go as the walk, but the streets are fairly clear as it nears dusk. She examines the sights as they go, admiring the architecture. "Ah there it is." He points to a large restaurant on the edge of the huge lakes on the border of the city. "And it looks rather empty too. Lucky us."
"Very nice." Sonya looks out across the lakes as the approach the restaurant. "Never been anywhere like this before."
He chuckles. "Me neither actually. I'm not a very fancy person.. But I was in the mood for something expensive. Besides, I won't take my date to a crappy old restaurant."
She laughs "Well I'm not sure I'm worth all that. A bar meal has suited me fine so far!"
"I dunno.. You seem worth it to me." He smiles at her. "Come on, I'll get us a table." He walks up to a man, who promptly walks them to their seats outside of the restaurant, right by the lake. Alex pulls out a seat for her smiling. "Ma'am."
She smiles back as she sits down. "Why thank you Mr. Godwyn."
"You're welcome, Miss Lyson."
She shivers as he says her last name. "Please...don't call me that. I prefer Sonya."
"Sorry.. Miss Sonya then?"
She laughs. "No, just Sonya will do."
He chuckles as he moves to his seat across from her. "Alright." Two displays lighting up on the table, showing the foods offered. "Interesting."
"Nice..." She says as she examines the menu, surprised at the variety.
He scrolls through menu, unable to decide what he wants. "Huh.." After a few moments Sonya decides on a particular pasta dish consisting of fish, fettuccine, and several vegetables, watching him as he continues looking. He finally makes a decision, selecting a steak meal. "Looks good enough.." Then he picks a bottle of wine to drink as an afterthought. "That does too."
Smiling, she leans back in her chair and looks across the lake at the skyline. He smiles back at her. "Would you like to stay the night here too?" He points at a small resort on the edge of the lake. "We could stay there."
"Here?" She glances at him then back at the lake as she considers the idea. "Hmm... Lets just have dinner first, then worry about where to go."
He chuckles. "Alrighty.. I got us some wine if you don't mind."
"Mind? No, I like wine."
Nodding, he looks off into the restaurant. "Hey look at that, they've already prepared it."
She follows his gaze, speaking in a surprised tone. "Wow, that was fast."
"Hey, less time waiting, eh?"
"Pay them a week's salary too?" She says grinning.
"Probably a biiit more expensive than a handful of mechanics" He grins back as she laughs at this.
The waiters arrive and place their plates on the table, wishing them a good meal before returning to their duties. "Bon apetit." Alex says, chuckling.
She smiles again, poking at a few noodles to be sure they weren't too hot before tasting them. After a moment she takes a small bite. "Ooo, it's very good." He's looking down at his plate as he eats his meal rather quickly, he covers his mouth with his hand before agreeing. She can't help but giggle slightly at his more military style of eating, taking her time with her own food. "So, how did you get to know the corsairs?"
He swallows a mouthful of steak before speaking. "Well, I was flying through the Omicrons when I saw this heavily Hunter favored brawl. I flew right between a Battlecruiser and Julio, saving his life, and causing the Battlecruiser to completely miss any shots, including myself. Of course, the Hunters were fairly agitated, but I got away free. The Corsairs though, especially Julio, were rather thankful."
"That was very kind of you..." She stops in thought a moment before continuing. "How long ago was this?"
"Hmm.. Maybe a year and a half ago now?"
Staring at her plate for a moment, she then shakes her head and continues eating.
"What's on your mind?" A look of curiosity is on his face.
Stopping again and swallowing her food she keeps her gaze toward her plate. "I was just thinking...Yelena was killed in a fight between her group of bounty hunters and their targets which happened to be corsairs...but it was far more recent..." She quickly begins eating again as she trails off, not wanting to go into any detail.
Nodding, he doesn't continue, understanding her quick change. Having now finished his meal he looks around, seeing the sun starting to set off in the distance across the lake. "Look at thaaat." He says, pointing it out to her.
She looks up from her meal, toward the direction he's pointing. As she notices the sunset she smiles in surprise. "Wow it's...beautiful...I've never seen a sunset before..."
He looks at her curiously. "You haven't spent much time on open land, have you? Manhattan is rather, well, crowded."
"Yeah, too crowded there, and ever since I left...well, I've spent most all of my time in space."
He spots a pier off in the distance as she speaks. "Hey, lets go over there, it'll be a much better view."
She glances at it, finishing off the remains of her meal as she stands. "Good idea, hope we can make it before it's over."
Alex takes her hand as he stands up. "Come on then, lets hurry!" Sonya follows him as they run toward the pier, him half dragging her by the hand. She is breathing heavily, but giggling slightly at his speed as she tries to keep up. He turns around, swiftly picks her up off of her feet, and starts to run down the pier with her, somewhat unwillingly, in his arms. "Slowpoke!" He says with a laugh.
"Hey!" She says, laughing as he does this.
He almost stumbles as he comes to a stop at the end of the pier, still holding her in his arms. "Loook, it's about to disappear." The bottom of the sun is touching the horizon and sinking slowly.
She has to force herself to quit laughing so she could see it, wiping her eyes lightly as she lets out a sigh. "It's magnificent."
He smiles, looking at her. "So is something else."
She looks down at him smiling. "You can put me down now."
He chuckles at this, grinning. "But why? I don't mind holding you!"
She giggles. "Yes, but this is very awkward for me!"
"Fine fine.." He says as he gently lowers her to her feet
.
As he does she kisses him lightly on the cheek. "See, that wasn't so hard."
"I guess not." He says, grinning as he looks back at the setting sun.
She looks back toward the sunset, leaning forward on the pier's railing, taking it all in. As the top of the sun begins to sink beneath the horizon, he looks back at her, her gaze still on it as the rays bounce off of the bottoms of the clouds. After a few moments she notices him looking at her and grins slightly. "What?"
He inches closer to her, smiling softly. "Oh nothing.. Just admiring the view."
Sonya glances behind herself grinning playfully. "I don't see anything."
"I think you know what I'm talking about."
Looking back at him still grinning she leans closer. "No, I'm not sure I do."
He lifts his hand as he nears her, taking a soft hold of her chin, and then presses his lips to hers softly. The last bit of the sun disappears behind the horizon as she closes her eyes, embracing him; the sunset now completely forgotten.
[color=blue]Infestation:
Sonya stood next to Alex in a rented room on Freeport 11, it brightly illuminated by the suns visible outside the nearby viewport. After a confusion as to their next destination they had decided to come to delta for a few days until they were ready to move on. Now they were involved in a slight...misunderstanding regarding a couple of wine glasses.
"Picky? What's that supposed to mean?"
Alex shakes his head, smiling as he chuckles. "Ah nothing, nothing. I'll go get the good glasses"
She laughs, kissing him. "Thank you, just be sure not to get lost."
"I'll try not to!" He starts to head out of the room. "Don't miss me too long."
"You know I will!" She smiles, sitting on the corner of the bed to admire the system outside the viewport while she waited.
He walks out the door, glancing at her as he closes it behind him and begins walking back to the bar for the glasses. "Ah, the things I do..."
A man standing off the side of the hall watches him as he walks by. Alex looks at him, but continues walking, unable to distinguish the man's features in the dim light. He continues watching Alex, being sure he isn't seen as he slips into their room, silently locking the door. He turns and looks at Sonya, who's still sitting on the bed, daydreaming about the system outside. She hears him approaching from behind, but doesn't turn around thinking it's Alex. "Well that was fast."
When he doesn't answer she becomes suspicious standing up and turning around. "Alex? What's the....who are you?...what do you want?" She backs up until she's against the viewport glass, him still walking toward her.
Alex, now returning with two glasses, reaches the door to their room surprised when he tries to open it. "Eh.. Locked? Hey, let me in!"
As the man draws near her his eyes begin to glow and a tentacle emerges from of his mouth. Sonya hears Alex and screams. "ALEX! HEL..." As she screams he grabs her head with both hands pulling them closer. She feels the tentacle enter her mouth cutting her off and everything goes black.
"Wha- SONYA!" He pulls out his sidearm, and shoots wildly at the door's lock. Kicking it hard and knocking it inward, he doesn't hesitate as he begins firing and ripping apart the man who had attacked Sonya. Quickly expending a full clip of ammo as the rounds pass into the man's body. "GET AWAY FROM HER!"
The man flinches with the recoil of each shot, blood spattering on the viewport behind him. He falls to the ground, still breathing, but barely. Alex stomps on his chest while loading a fresh clip in his gun. "F*** you. I'll see you in hell." He unloads nearly half the clip into the mans head and chest, a look of fear in the man's no longer glowing eyes as Alex ends his life.
Quickly running to Sonya's side and lifting her in his arms he half begins to cry. Wanting to get them out away from the station, the man, all the other people aboard, Alex carries her to his Orca pushing anyone and everyone out of his way. This draws many odd and concerned looks, but by the time anyone thinks to say or do anything he's already gone. As soon as he's on board his ship he launches, setting the ship to pilot itself. Then lays her down on the deck plating and sits next to her. "S-sonya.. Wake up.."
She does not respond so he checks her over. Her breathing is slightly erratic, pulse slightly elevated, but Alex finds no sign of injury. He lifts her partially off of the ground, embracing her tightly. "Sonya, what did he do to you.."
----------------------------
A few hours go by before Sonya begins to stir. Alex looks down at her, still in his arms while tears run down his face. "A-are you.. alright..? Sonya?" She starts screaming as she fully regains consciousness, not realizing where she is. He hugs her instinctively, trying to calm her. "Sonya! It's me, Alex! Calm down, j-just calm down.." After hearing his voice, her screaming turns to crying as she grabs and holds him tightly. He shakes his head. "Wh-what happened..? Don't tell me.. His eyes.."
She continues crying uncontrollably for a few minutes, then manages to speak a few words. "T-the...man...wha...where?" She loses control again, none of her other words distinguishable.
He holds her tighter.. silent tears running down his face. "J-just.. forget about it..it's alright now.."
She continues crying for the next few minutes, interrupted when she hears a voice in her head. [color=purple]***Sadness...*** She looks around startled. "Wha-what?"
Alex looks down at her shaking his head. "No, no no! Not that! Please, not that!"
Now slightly surprised at Alex, not yet understanding, her crying slowly subsides. "What? ..you..heard it too?"
He tightens his hold on her again. "I did, I hope to god it wasnt from you.. Don't be.."
"From me? Alex...I don't understand...what happened? Last thing I remember, I was sitting on the bed, I heard the man behind me, turned...his eyes.." She hears the voice again
***We...one*** She flinches at the voice, not expecting it this time.
He shakes his head. "No it isn't real, this is, is, no! That's worse than death.." She wipes her eyes, looking at her hands. Then hugs Alex again. "It's alright....we are still here."
He shakes his head. "It'll take control of you soon.. If not today, tomorrow.. You wont be you!"
She pauses hearing faint voices in her mind. "That's...not true..."
"Wha-.."
"I...don't know...I just know it's..." She looks at the floor then back to her hands, then to Alex as she hears the voices still.
He looks at her oddly. "What are you talking about..?"
She looks at him for a moment more before replying. "I don't know...it's just...no..." She pushes him away as she stands up backing toward the wall. Feelings that aren't hers begin to enter her mind. "You need to stay away from me.."
He stands and looks at her. "Sonya.. I can't just.."
She cuts him off. "Alex, you have to...I don't want to hurt you."
"No! I can't just let you go like this! There has to be some way!" He rubs his eyes to keep his vision cleared.
"You know there isn't one...
He looks at the ground, the tears he sheds falling to the floor of the ship. "Sonya.."
Before he could say anything more, she runs through the arilock into the cargo bay, disabling it from her side. She stands at the viewport in the hatch watching him. "I won't let you be hurt alex...now open the outer doors..."
"No! You can't do that! SONYA! Think about what you're doing.. I don't care about myself.. Just you.."
She places a hand on the window, anger in her voice. "Damnit, do it Alex! Before this thing gets control and stops you!"
***Murder?...allow not..***
He starts to rip out the cords to the console for the cargo bay doors, in an attempt to open them. "Sonya.. I won't do that.. I just can't.."
She stands there staring for a moment, now crying again. "Alex, I love you...I would give my life for you...which is what I'm doing...now open the outer doors...please..."
Alex shakes his head, falling to his knees. "I can't.. I.. I just can't.."
She slams the door hard with the palm of her hand. "Don't Alex! Don't think, just do it..." Jolted slightly by her action, he stands, rubbing his arm across his eyes. "Good.." She says, still crying. "..now the doors..." Walking over to the console, not even looking up, he punches in a code. The lights next to her start flashing red with a siren going off. He looks up at her. She holds her hand against the glass again, still crying but looking into his eyes. "Thank you...I love you Alex..."
"Self destruct sequence activated. Detonation timed at: 300 seconds" An automated voice informs them as he starts cutting and twisting wires together in the console. "I won't let you go alone, Sonya.."
"WHAT! NO! Alex! Stop this!" She bangs on the door hard.
He shakes his head. "What's the difference? Either you implode in space, or you explode in my ship.. I'll be with you until the very end, Sonya.."
"No! Alex! I don't want you to die!"
Alex twists a last set of wires and the cargo bay door opens. He rushes to embrace her but she pushes past him, heading toward the main console. Realizing what she's doing he grabs Sonya by the waist, and then pins her to the ground. "I don't care WHAT you are, you will not take Sonya away from me!"
"Let me go!" She hits him in his head hard, causing him to let go of her long enough to stop the self-destruct. Looking back at him she stands next to the console with tears still running down her face. "I'm sorry Alex..."
He rubs his head slightly dazed. "I shouldnt've left your side.. I should've known that the Omicrons weren't a place to stop in.."
"It wasn't your fault, you couldn't have known...but now you do and you have to let me go...you know there's no way to undo this..."
He shakes his head, trying to reason with her. "I just cant. You haven't tried to kill me yet..."
"Alex..."
He cuts her off. "I've seen it happen, Sonya. I've watched them take control in a matter of minutes."
"Why even risk it...I love you too much to see you hurt in any way..."
"Then don't make me have to leave you. That's the worst that could happen to me at this point.."
"Damn you Alex..." She shakes her head in frustration. "You know I won't make you...but I can't..."
"Can't what?"
She hesitates, not wanting to tell him what she truly felt about him as the nomad shared its feelings with her. "I can't stand the thought of seeing something happen to you because of me...I am a danger to you...even if it isn't the nomads that pose it, those who hunt them will.."
"I won't let them hunt you."
***(Curious)***
"You...but they could be old friends, allies..."
He shakes his head. "My old friends are dead, Sonya. I told you about the Battleship before."
"I'm always going to have to be on the run...I don't want you to have to be a part of that..."
"Why should it matter if we're constantly on the move? I won't leave you just because I'm not sitting in one place for a while."
She sighs, trying to think of anything to get him to listen. "You said once that you wanted to eventually settle down in one place...that would be gone..."
"Well, what are my chances of finding someone like you again?"
Sonya can't help but smile at this. "I don't want to see you sacrifice your dreams for me."
He smiles back. "I really don't mind, not anymore."
"You have already given enough for me."
He walks up to her and hugs her tightly. "So you say." She hugs him back tentatively. He sighs at this. "I love you, Sonya."
"I love you too...and I don't want anything to happen to you."
"I won't let anything happen to either of us, not anymore."
She closes her eyes holding him tightly. "Don't make a promise you can't keep.."
Torn:
Sonya lets go of lets go of Alex and backs away slightly, sitting on the back of one of the chairs.
Alex sits in the chair opposite of her, staring out the viewport for a few minutes before breaking the silence. "So...where to now?"
"I don't know...where are we anyways?"
He pauses a moment whil he looks at his charts. "Somewhere in the middle of Omicron Delta."
"I don't know...somewhere away from here for sure." Sonya says, thinking really that she didn't want to be near him for the feelings she felt.
[color=purple]***Seek..solitude?***
"I don't know what I want." Alex says, thinking it was referring to him.
Sonya knows better but doesn't say anything. After a moment a vision of a jumphole passes through her mind, followed by one of a strange 3d star chart, a specific spot illuminated. She get up, goes to the navigation console, and points to the spot from her vision. "Here."
He raises an eyebrow. "Why there?"
"I..don't know...I just get the feeling there's something there to see."
He inputs the coordinates. "Alrighty then, let's go see what this thing has in mind..." She turns around, sitting forward in the chair, watching the system outside, her thoughts elsewhere for a few minutes before he speaks again. "Where is it taking us?"
She is shaken from the slight daze as he speaks. "Oh...I don't know, I just know there's a jumphole there."
He shrugs. "What's to lose?"
She glances at him. "You? This nomad is a part of me..not you."
"Well...we're going there anyway." He says as he set the course. She can't help but laugh slightly at his stubborness and her own mixed feelings, ignoring the odd look he gives her as she watches the system pass them by. They were apparently drifting fairly close to it anyways, because it was only a short while before they arrived at the jumphole. Alex stops the ship outside of it then looks at Sonya. "So where are you taking us, Nomad?"
She looks away from him, slightly upset and angered. "Please don't look at me when you speak to...it."
He shakes his head, quickly apologizing. "Sorry.."
***Don't fear...It is....'sight'***
"It still wants us to do what we enjoyed?" She shrugs as he looks at her. "Well, here goes something.." They enter the jumphole, coming out in a very dark system. Two stars in from of them barely provide enough light to reveal a planet off to their left. Many dim stars can be seen in the distance but little else is visible.
***Lost***
Alex raises an eyebrow. "Omicron Lost? I thought it was just a rumor, a joke."
"Yeah, that's what this is, and apparently not." Sonya looks around, surprised at how dark and quiet the system is. She glances at Alex, wondering what he was thinking of all of this, seeing him look around as if not overly interested as he sighs. She quickly looks away as she realizes she's having a feeling that one would get when sizing-up a possible threat. "I'm sorry..."
He shakes his head. "It's fine, really.. And you have nothing to be sorry over.. I'm the one who left you alone.."
She hesitates, knowing he could not understand exactly what she meant. "I don't know...I.." She pauses, wavering slightly as a wave of fatigue hits her.
"Are you alright..?"
"I'm fine...just tired all of the sudden...guess all that's happened is catching up to me." She leans back in the chair as she says this.
He sighs, looking at her then back out the system with a disturbed look. "Sleep well."
It doesn't take long for her to drowse off over the next ten minutes, the system outside being the last thing she sees. As she sleeps, Sonya dreams of places and events. Not dreaming, experiencing; from the Nomad's perspective. At least as close as a human mind could comprehend their perspective without going mad, hence why they were limited for her. Visions of things of unimaginable beauty and happiness, and others of unimaginable despair. To a human at least. Much was beyond her comprehension, but she understood enough.
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She begins to wake many hours later, looking around the ship for Alex. As her vision clears she finds him asleep, leaning on his arm in the chair. The mixed feelings of love and aversion come over her again as she looks at him causing her to avert her gaze to the viewport. Looking out she notices they hadn't left the system, but weren't near the jumphole anymore either. After another moment of thought she looks back to Alex getting the urge to wake him and try to tell him what she had found out. A few moments pass as she thinks on what she would tell him. She knew he'd try to understand no matter how she spoke, but not necessarily beable to. So she decided on a simple approach, speaking quietly, not wanting to startle him. "Alex..."
He partially opens his eyes, and looks around. "Huhmm?"
"Alex, wake up...it's been showing me things...events that have passed.."
He looks at her, and shrugs drowsily as he lets out a long yawn. "Or it's just showing you what you think is the truth."
"No, I don't think so..."
He sighs. "What did it tell you, then?"
"It wasn't 'telling' so much as seeing..feeling. It's hard to explain.."
He looks over her with rapt attention, an expression of curiosity on his face. "What did you 'feel'?"
"Sadness, happiness, pain, pleasure, confusion, comprehension..." She looks out into the system as she speaks "...I was 'shown' many things...almost living them."
He nods with a concerned look on his face. "I see.."
"It's right that they destroy our weapons, ships, and those in them when necessary because we hunt them, kill them, and worse.."
He shakes his head. "But why the controlling? Why not diplomacy or anything? The Nomad war solidifies the fact they aren't peaceful. They hunted us first."
"No...that was a mistake...'we' found them, released them, and the attempted to capture them for study. They retaliated." She looks at him now. "And diplomacy...we don't listen to what they say as it is..hell, humans rarely listen to eachother, let alone Nomads.."
He sighs. "A bit too late since the Nomad War for that."
"A war we started..."
"So you're saying it was wrong for us to fight an alien species which was invading our planets in secrecy, infesting our superiors, and causing us to war on each other?! Thousands of humans died, many of them infested, many of them not!"
She sighed, now growing slightly angry at him for not hearing her words. "And thousands of nomads died too...they infiltrated our governments in retaliation, knowing the only way for them to win was to have us destroy ourselves."
"How do you think they would feel if we made them destroy each other?! They would be just as pissed off about it as us!"
"And how would we feel if they experimented on us while we lived? Caused us as much pain and suffering when all of them share in the losses?" Her tone is now deep in anger, but lightens considerably as she interprets the look that comes on his face as she says this. "I can see in your eyes that you don't understand that though..."
He shakes his head surprised at her change in tone, sighing. "I don't know.."
She looks at him for a moment. "Sorry...but don't you see? If it helps you to understand, that's what they would do to me too."
He shakes his head, now angered at the thought. "I won't let them."
She glances out the viewport, frustrated by his stubbornness yet touched by his commitment, which together only created anger. After a moment she looks back at him, opening her mouth to say something, then deciding against it for another approach. "Alex...you can't stop an entire navy..."
"Eh, they're all chumps these days! The LPI are scarier than them, actually."
She can't help but smile at this, but still looks worried as she knows what could happen. So she decides on a different approach. "We will do our best then..."
He laughs, cutting her off in mid-sentence. "We'll do better than that, we'll win at whatever they throw at us! Unless its like a cruiser or dreadnaught, I'll have to turn tail then.."
She looks out the viewport again, that feeling of anger and frustration returning, but keeping calm. "You know you wouldn't have to if..."
"If what?"
"If I took my ship, and you left in the opposite direction."
Without hesitation he shakes his head in reply. "Absolutely not."
She sighs as she looks back toward him with a look of complete seriousness, determined to get him out of the danger he would be in if he stays with her even if her words hurt him to do so. "Would it help to say that I feel seperate now?"
He looks at her confused. "Hmm?"
"I'm different, like I'm feeling what the nomad feels...when I look at you...it's not the same as it was...."
He opens his mouth to talk and then shuts it, looking at the ground she he speaks. "You want to just end it all.. Despite how hard I'm trying..?"
"No I don't, because I love you, but...I feel different now, as if the Nomad's emotions have been tethered to mine... and its indifference to you is averting. The attraction I once felt is blotched by its apathy. That changes things..." She curses herself silently for not simply saying yes, but feeling that he deserved to know the truth.
Alex stands up, grabbing hold of her hands. "I want to be with you, despite it all, Sonya..."
She looks at their hands, then up at him, cutting him off before he can continue. "I'll always feel this evasive feeling...It's something I can't help.."
Hesitating a moment he lets go of her hands before running one through his hair, starting to pace the gunboat. She watches for a few minutes. Growing uneasy at the silence, and by the seriousness he showed. "Alex, wha.." She is quickly cut off by a hand gesture without him even looking her way. So she stays quiet despite the urge to know what was running through his mind.
![[Image: takend.jpg]](http://img2.imageshack.us/img2/6769/takend.jpg)
It was quiet aboard the bridge of the Orca gunboat. Alex had finally stopped pacing after several hours and now sat in the pilot's chair, holding his chin as he looked out into the system. Sonya was leaning back in her own chair doing the same, glancing at him every now and then. He still hadn't said a word to her or even looked her way, and she was both worried and very anxious. Her anxiety grew the longer it went on, and the feelings of a potential threat began to take precedence in her mind. Still, she waited for a response.
Thoughts passed of what he could be thinking about, what he might do, the most likely outcomes. After a few more minutes, she isn't able to take the anxiety anymore and stands, heading over to the cargo bay door. He notices her do this and quickly runs after her, grabbing her by the shoulder as he speaks. "Sonya wher..." Not hearing him before she feels the touch, she's startled and instinctually turns and swings an arm, hitting him hard in the head. Angered by his stubbornness and arrogance from earlier as well as her own mixed feelings, scared by the possibilities of what he may have been considering, and with her feelings amplified by those of the nomad, she doesn't regret her actions and seals the door between them, him still recovering from her blow. Without hesitation or a second glance, she heads straight for her ship, quickly jumping in and powering it up.
After a quick signal sent to the bay doors she's in open space, engaging cruise drives before she's even clear of the hold. As an afterthought she mutes her comms, not wanting to hear anything he may have to say. She heads straight to the jumphole not even slowing down as she enters. Moments later she's in Omicron Delta once again.
Sonya would stop and take in the view, but she knows better than that; knows that he would be following. So she engages cruise drives again, trying to think of where to go that he would not find her. Much to her dismay, the only cover for many kilometers around her was sparse meteoroids. Not even remotely helpful. Her closest choice would be the jumphole to Omicron Minor, next would be the jumphole to Omicron Iota, and third would be to travel over eighty kilometers to the Tokelau ice cloud. Eighty kilometers was a bit too far for the time she had, and Omicron Minor was full of Order. So she set course for the Iota jumphole, glancing at her scanners to confirm he hadn't come out of Omicron Lost yet.
The distance counts down on the navigation console. Each second brings her closer to shaking him completely. By the time Alex comes out of the Lost jumphole, she'd already halfway there. Seeing him appear on scanner only heightens her anxiety, and she pushes as much power to the engines as she can. The range is too far for a Cruise Disruptor to be fired, but she doesn't want to know if he would use one if he had the chance.
It seems like an eternity before she reaches the jumphole, but she finally does, again not even disengaging cruise drive as she enters it. Once on the other side releif begins to come as she picks a random direction and takes off into the thick nebulae, dropping a probe as she does so she can tell when and which way he goes.
Sonya counts the time until he comes through, watching the readouts from the probe. His ship stops and sits for a few minutes; most likely that he was running scans of the area. She stops her own engines as she reaches a safe distance away, well out of scanner range, shutting down everything but her life support and the system controlling the probe. His ship moves off in a direction leading away from where she is, soon beyond out of the probe's range.
Now, having gotten away from him with almost no chance of him finding her again in the nebula, Sonya looks out the view port thinking on what she had just done. As the feelings of anger and anxiety fade to nothing, she begins to cry.
[color=blue]Erratum:
Sonya sits quietly, ship still floating dead in space. The only sounds heard is that of her own thoughts and her tears as they fall to the deck plates below her. It could have been an eternity that she sat there, or only a few hours, she didn't care. All that ran through her mind was what she had left and what she wanted to do now; to go back to something familiar to her. Of all places she had been she vied to see liberty again. Not Manhattan....or her parents, but the places she knew so well. Maybe Erie...or Houston....then maybe Sheffield Station. That wasn't in Liberty, but her memories of Yelena were strong there.
She doesn't bother with another moment of thought before reengaging all systems and turning back towards the Omicron Delta jumphole. It didn't matter now, she had no reason to stay here. There had been no sign of Alex since she lost him at the hole. The probe's range wasn't overly far though so she didn't trust it too much. Her ship's sensors however did have good range and they showed clear. He had to still be in the system, but wherever he was, it wasn't near her.
Her bomber soon reached the jumphole. She paused a moment, turning on her communication system and speaking a few words over long-range frequencies. "Alex...I'm sorry...I love you..". Sonya shuts the comms system down again not wanting to hear any answer...if he even received it that is. Going through the jumphole, she sets the next waypoint; the Omicron Minor jumphole being her destination. There would no doubt be Order there of which she was afraid of, but the time saved and her current feelings overrode these fears as she set the course. Even though she wasn't overly skilled at fighting, she figured she could evade them well enough.
Her trip from the Omicron Iota jumphole to the Omicron Minor hole took only minutes, but it seemed an eternity to her. So many thoughts passed by. Past and present, but the future...the future she didn't let into her mind. For it seemed that things couldn't get any worse, but couldn't get any better either. Even if she went back to Alex again there was no way they could stay together. She cursed at herself for what she had done, what she had become. Then a slight feeling of solace passed through her. [color=purple]***Present...future....better***
She knew it wasn't her own feeling, and thought to herself why the Nomad...no, it had a name which it preferred...
***Tyrahsas*** "Okay" she thinks, why Tyrahsas would care to try and comfort her. If that was what it was doing. She wasn't sure of anything anymore.
***Dangers...past....gone*** They were no longer in danger, or dangers of the past were over? She wasn't sure which, but either way life was more than just evading dangers.
***Truth...yet misunderstanding***
Sighing to herself she begins talking out loud. More for herself than the Nomad. "Look, I don't care right now. Just let me be.."
Apparently Tyrahsas didn't care either, as a vision began to come to her. She was walking down the hallway of a station with many people around her, but something was wrong. It took her a while to figure it out, but it soon hit her that she was looking through someone else's eyes. A man's eyes. A few Corsairs passed him in the hall greeting him as they went. She greeted them in return with a voice that wasn't hers, but that of a Corsair with a heavy hispanic accent. Doors passed by her as he walked, turning to one at the end of the hall and stopping. His head turns and looks around before he leans down at the panel, prying it open and working at the wires to unlock the door.
A moment later there is a soft click of the locking mechanism, and he carefully replaces the panel before stepping inside. As he enters the room, she notes the luxuries of the office before them. Whoever owned this office was either powerful or favored by those with power. He immediately moved to the desk and began searching the drawers and papers on it's surface. Bills, speeches, forms, nothing interesting to him apparently as he didn't pause at any of them. Once the drawers were exhausted he moved to the terminal embedded in the desk's surface. Letters, reports, plans of some sort, personal notes. She didn't understand any of it, but it had seemed that he had found what he was looking for as he looked over all of it carefully, apparently committing it to memory.
A sound in the hall startles them as he finishes reading the files. He quickly resets the terminal and moves behind the door, listening for any sound from the other side. Footsteps can be heard coming closer. He reaches down to his side and pulls a modified blaster, checking it for ammunition. As the door opens he backs to the side, moving with the door so he was still behind it. She watches as the woman who enters walks towards the desk and hesitates. "What the....I could have swore I had the shipping reports on the other side...". Sonya watches as the man lowers the blaster slowly and points it at the back of the woman's head. He waits for her to turn and see him, her jumping slightly, holding her hands up at shoulder level with palms towards him. "Whoa..easy now..whatever you want, take it...just don't sho-". She's cut off as he pulls the trigger, Sonya oddly not feeling any pity or guilt for the woman's death as she watches her fall to the floor.
He moves back to the hallway, concealing the gun again and turning at the first intersection he came to trying to move quickly, but not give himself away completely. A few corsairs run down the hall behind, one stopping as he sees him. "Hey you!" He curses under his breath at the man's words as he draws his gun again, firing it behind him. The Corsair manages to dive around the corner without injury, so he increases his pace to a run before the Corsair could recover. He turns at another intersection, then another, listening to his pursuer's footfalls behind him. Every now and then they would get within sight of him and fire a shot or two yelling for him to stop. Sonya knew that would never happen. "Yeah, fire a gun at someone then ask them to stop....brilliant." She thinks to herself.
The chase continues to a hangar where he increases his speed to a sprint, heading straight toward a Titan. He just manages to reach it before his pursuers reach the hangar doors firing blaster rounds his way. He dives behind the ship, firing back as he tries to get them to duck for cover and give him the time to enter the cockpit. They scatter behind some shipping crates, and he jumps in before his clip is emptied, powering the ship up and turning to fire it's guns towards them. The large bolts tear through the crates, the men, even the doors behind them. Once they are all dead he turns the ship and launches from the bay.
Creeping along at impulse speed, he waits until he's a little ways from the station before engaging cruise drives. This avoided attracting the attention of a nearby patrol which apparently hadn't been alerted to the actions on the base. Just as he was at the edge of their scanner range though he hears them speak over the comms. "'Ey, you, hold it!" Sonya laughs mentally at this. "A little late." She thinks.
"Come on hermano! We just want to have a word with you!" He shakes his head at the corsair's words, now well out of their scanner range. The comms chatter rises. Words of a spy, an assassin, among other things. Sonya didn't know how much was true, but from what she had seen so far she assumed that most of it was. Another patrol enters scanner range and he shifts course to bypass them, never getting close enough for them to lock on his location. "We have him near the Theta hole!"
"All units in the area, move to the Theta hole now!"
He shakes his head again as he passes out of their scanner range and soon passing by the Omicron Theta jumphole as well. His course rather, lead him to the Omicron Kappa jumphole. The Corsairs soon reached the Theta hole behind him. "He must have gone through already."
"He could have gone to the Kappa hole instead sir."
"Si...take two wings and head there. The rest of you follow me." They were definitely following him now, but they were a ways behind. He soon reached the Omicron Kappa hole and jumped through. Once he was through he set course for the Omicron Delta jumphole, making it halfway before a load of comms chatter came across his comms announcing the arrival of the Corsairs.
"He's here! I had him on scanners for a moment!"
"Haha, looks like we were the lucky ones."
"Call for reinforcements, we'll cut him off in Delta." He cursed under his breath, Sonya noticing a tinge of fear passing through them. She listened to more of the comms chatter as they went though. Most were just taunts and threats. "Haha, we got you now hermano. Nowhere to run, nowhere to go."
"Come on, stop your engines and make this easier on all of us."
"Or don't stop your engines and make it harder on yourself, but more interesting for us."
He reaches the Omicron Delta hole in a matter of minutes, tuning out the comms chatter. Sure enough, when he emerges on the other side there are more Corsair ships closing in from different directions. Cursing under his breath he immediately engages cruise drives, launching countermeasures at the myriad of cruise disruptors that were fired at his ship. He flies erratically for a moment as he dodges weapons fire and more disruptors, then straightens out and turns his ship toward the Freeport. Several of the corsairs behind him engaged cruise drives and followed, only a few kilometers behind him. "There's nowhere to run! We have every exit to the system covered!"
"Where you going hermano? Going to hide on the Freeport? *laughs*" Cruise disruptors are fired again as the distance between him and the Freeport shortens.
When he's a little over 5 kilometers away an alarm sounds notifying him that he's out of countermeasures. Fear passes through him again as one of the disruptors impacts his ship, disabling his cruise drives. He doesn't hesitate as he cuts his engines and hits the thrusters. "I hit him! Quick, get him before he gets to the Freeport!"
"Damn, no. Follow but don't engage. He's in the no-fire zone."
"Aww come on! Who will notice out here?"
"Me and a base full of Zoners. Now shut it before I decide to shoot you instead of him."
He sighs slightly as he approaches the Freeport still feeling fear despite knowing that he won't be fired upon now, because he knew that he was trapped. "Hehe, don't worry hermano, we can wait out here for you. You have to come out sometime."
He quickly docks and sits a moment in his ship, breathing heavily as he looks around the hangar. There were several ships there already. A few Zoner vessels, a Bounty Hunter fighter, and even a Libertonian bomber were present; the pilots nowhere to be seen. He needed something. A plan, an edge, something. Sonya 'watches' as he exits the Titan, leaning against the nearby hangar wall and watching the techs. She can't tell what he's thinking, but she can feel his anxiety.
A few minutes pass before an Orca gunboat lands on the opposite end of the hangar, him still leaning on the wall. A tinge of hope passes through him as a man and a woman exit the ship, heading toward the exit that would lead to the interior of the base. The man looked strong, but the woman...she was obviously not quite so as they walked. Sonya watches curiously as he follows them, keeping a distance.
They laugh and talk as they go, working their way through the halls. As they round the next corner the woman glances back at him. Sonya is shocked to see her own face as she turns. He backs off a little bit letting them pass around the corner and out of sight, coming around just in time to see them enter the bar. He waits a few seconds more before walking in, quickly spotting them at the bar as he takes a table near the door. He selects a drink from the nearby console and goes back to watching them as he waits for it to arrive. The two are still talking as they order their drinks. He is unable to hear what they say, but Sonya knows, remembering that day. "We were talking about Kusari...Alex orders Tequila, but ends up drinking too much..." She says in her mind.
His beer arrives and he takes a few drinks, not taking his eyes off them. "I noticed you again and said something to Alex. He takes offense and decides to bring you up on it." She thinks again. Sure enough, she glances at him, then to Alex, who after a moment stands and starts walking towards him speaking as he does. "Hola mi amigo! Como estas?!"
He doesn't answer, glancing at her then Alex, thinking of what to do. Alex stands, and starts walking towards him. "What, don't you speak Spanish?" At this he places a credit stick on the table, then stands to leave ignoring Alex's words. Alex speeds up to catch up to him. "Hey, Amigo, what's your deal?" He makes it to the door before Alex reaches him, grabbing him by the shoulder. He stops a moment, then elbows Alex in the stomach hard, continuing walking out the bar and down the hall as Alex stands in place doubled-over in pain.
"I ran to Alex afraid he might be hurt. He was very angry...wanted to leave, but I didn't want him to because of how much Tequila he had. So with our bar mood ruined, we rented a room, and he bought some wine." She says in her mind as he rounds another corner, speeding up. The lights are darker here, and he backs into an entry way, apparently knowing the layout of the station. A few minutes later they pass him by, not noticing as they talked. He watches them as they stop at one of the rooms, Alex unlocking the door and motioning her inside. "The room was nice....the view beautiful, but we had forgotten glasses for the wine. Had a bit of an argument before he left to get them, then I sat on the bed, watching the view..." Sonya thought. Again, just as she thought, a few minutes later Alex left the room, glancing at him as he passed but not making out who he was.
He waits for Alex to get a ways down the hall before sneaking in the room and locking the door behind him. Then he turned to Sonya, sitting on the bed with her back to the door. A strong feeling of hope, salvation, that edge he needed, rushed through him and Sonya felt this too. The Sonya in front of him spoke without turning. "Well that was fast." He grins, not answering as he moved towards her. She was so vulnerable. The perfect opportunity for him.
She turns towards him suspiciously, speaking again. "Alex? What's the....who are you?...what do you want?" She jumps up and backs away from him. "Stop....stop....STOP!" Sonya yells in her mind, knowing what was coming. The Sonya in front of him continued backing away until she was against the viewport glass, a dead-end. Alex's voice can be heard as he reaches the door. . "Eh.. Locked? Hey, let me in!" Anxiety rushed over the man again, knowing his time was short. "DAMNIT! STOP THIS! I KNOW! I KNOW WHAT HAPPENED!" She yells in her mind again. The vision begins to fade quickly, the last thing Sonya sees is the terror in her own eyes as the one in front of him screams for Alex.
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