In the crowded, smoke-filled, stinking bar of Freeport 1, Katie sat staring out of the large floor to ceiling window, at the trade lanes.
The gentle red and green lights slowly pulsated, with the occasional flash of blue, as a ship careered out of the lanes. Normally, this would be of no interest to her, but today, it was all that she could think about.
Would he get here alright?
Maybe he got held up.
Maybe he's hurt.
No, he's careful...
Then why is he so late?
Katie slumped into a chair, twiddling her thumbs. She cast her eyes around the filthy bar, taking in the 'sights'.
Disgusting old men, laughing and joking, their few remaining yellow teeth glinting in the lights. Slutty women, with enough make up on to make their head heavier, with thick glossy lipstick. Thats what disgusted her most.
Turning back to the window, Katie noticed a battered old Crow coming out of the lanes, suddenly excited and gleeful, she started pushing her way through the crowd rudely, with many a startled punter calling out obscenities after her. But it was almost as if she couldn't hear them, she just saw them as obstacles to be removed from her path, but that was all over when she got near the door, as a huge, gauntleted hand shot out and grabbed her wrist. Startled, Katie attempted to pull away, but whoever it was, wouldn't let go. Yanking her, Katies neck whipped back as she was pulled toward the door, by a huge hulking man, wearing a leather jacket and a fedora tucked low over his eyes and face.
"Lemme go!" Katie yelled at him, and he just chuckled and punched the door console. The doors slid open, and two more men came at her, one with a sack, and one with handcuffs.
Oh god, whats happening? Katie thought to herself, as panic surged through her.
The sack was forced over her head, and her arms were wrenched behind her back, and as Katie heard the click of the handcuffs, she knew it was over.
For a moment there was silence, cold, unforgiving silence. something slammed into the back of her head, and everything went black.
Katie came round slowly, she felt numb, but her wrists and feet felt... Tight, like they were being constricted. Slowly forcing her eyes open, everything slowly came into focus, she was in a small box shaped room, with a dim yellow lamp providing the only light for the entire room. Looking about herself, and seeing herself tied to a chair with rope, everything came surging back.
She had been kidnapped, knocked out, and this must be where they took her.
The door slid open, and the bright light disorientated Katie, and she turned away. In a moment, the door was shut again, and the click of high heels striding across a stone floor flooded her ears. Roughly, her face was grabbed and forced to turn to look.
A beautiful woman was inches away from her face, and she had a look of satisfaction in her eyes. She had the same thick lipstick as the whores on Freeport 1, but it was well done, and she looked surprisingly good. The woman let go of her face and stepped back, letting Katie see her fully. Wearing a small leather jacket over her faded green shirt, her leather jeans clinging to the skin of her legs like glue.
"Good to see you've finally woken up Katie." This woman, whoever she was, spoke with a strong Bretonian accent, but Katie couldn't place it exactly.
"How... How do you... Know my name?" Katie groggily replied, still half-unconscious.
The woman seemed surprised, and chuckled.
"Katie Katie Katie Katie. How could you forget who I am?" The woman stood with a hand on her hip, and laughed.
"It's me, your dear old friend Paula."
Katies eyes widened.
"Yes. Remember me now you little bitch?" Paula laughed, and stepped closer to Katie.
"I.." The word was barely out of Katies mouth before Paula had backhanded her across the face. The sound of the smack reverberated off the walls, making it seem much more powerful than it was.
Katie swung her head back around, a small line of blood trailing down the side of her mouth.
It had been several hours since Paula had left Katie to her solitude, at least, Katie figured it must have been.
They had taken all her possessions, bar her clothing, but she was pretty sure some of the kidnappers had felt her up while she was out.
Having the time to contemplate had let her collect her thoughts, and she had it figured out, in her head at least.
Paula had been a friend of hers in her teenage years in Bretonia, when she was struggling to get by, Paula had helped her out and kept her going. But Paula had went a little too far. She had murdered someone, and Katie was asked to testify against her, and fearing prison, or worse, Katie complied. She still remembered Paulas hazel eyes burning into her as she was led away to the cells.
Katie had not spent all her time thinking about the past though, and had managed to undo her wrists from their bonds. Her feet though, she left tied in case they were watching her.
The door slid open, and one of the kidnappers stepped into the room.
"Boss says we can have some fun with you." A toothless smile appeared on the mans face, and he stepped close to Katie. He bent down, and once his head was only inches away, Katie attacked.
The mans eyes shot open as her hands wrapped around his neck, and grabbed hold of his head.
A sharp twist, a snap, and it was all over. The guard was dead, and he slumped over onto the floor. Katie noticed a pistol protruding from his belt, and she grabbed it. Quickly untying her legs, she ran to the door, and stood with her back to the wall beside it. Through the doorway she could hear two men talking, presumably the other two men who kidnapped her. One of them gasped, and she heard their heavy bodies charging along the corridor, they must have spotted their dead partner. As the first of the two men ran through the door, Katie rammed her knee into his crotch, doubling him over, before twisting out into the open, and aiming her gun at the last man. The mans eyes widened in pathetic fear for a mere moment, before a pistol slug blew the contents of his skull all over the wall. Bringing the handle of the pistol down on the head of the man she had kicked, he slumped onto the floor, knocked out.
Well, I guess that proves it. Women are better at fighting.
Katie walked along the halls of the building slowly, trying to find a way to escape. But it was as if she was stuck in a labyrinth, with no way out.
Suddenly from behind her Paulas voice sounded out.
"Looking for something?"
As Katie spun round, all she could see was a fist flying for her face. Ducking to the side, Katie tackled Paula to the ground, but as they hit the floor, Katie lost her pistol, and it slid off a few feet down the corridor.
Both women paused for a moment, then simultaneously scrambled for the pistol. Katie got there first, but just as she swung round to fire Paula dived onto her, grabbing her hand and pushing it away, Katie only took out a light.
With her free hand, Katie hooked Paula in the cheek, and send her slamming into the wall, causing her to lose her grip on the gun. Katie took aim, and fired, hitting Paula in the leg.
Paula screamed.
As the scream died out, Paula crawled into a sitting position, and looked at Katie, who was now standing, pointing the gun into her face was nothing but hatred in her eyes.
"Go on. Do it." The words came from Paula's mouth like venom, as she stared into Katies eyes.
Katie stood for a long time, before Paula spoke again.
"DO IT!" Paula shouted, her face red from exultation.
Katie fired.
Paula slumped against the wall, and slid slowly down onto her side, blood adorning the white walls like paint.
The silence was unbearable.
It seemed like it was screaming at her, mocking her.
Katie shook like a leaf, still pointing the gun at Paula. slowly, her hand unclenched, and the gun dropped to the floor, and Katie dropped to her knees. She brought her hands up, and looked at them. She had just killed one of her best friends. After a long time, Katie convulsed, and the tears began to flow. Her hands shook as she placed her hand on Paula's cheek, stroking it gently, and slowly closing the dead womans eyes with her hand, Katie stood up.
She still had to get out of here.
Katie walked as if she was in a trance, her eyes unfocused. She rubbed her arm as she walked, dried blood covering it. Paula's blood. It began to peel in flakes as she rubbed, like rust from a fighter hull.
Katie spotted a ladder, marked as SURFACE EXIT. Katies eyes refocused, and she ran towards it. Looking up the shaft, what appeared to be the underside of a manhole covered the top somewhat, but there was a gap still. She could get out.
The few minutes she spent climbing the ladder felt like hours, and the manhole seemed an infinite distance away, but rung after rung, step after step, she made her way to the top, and slipped her fingers through the crack, and she heaved at it. Slowly, but surely pushing the manhole cover aside. As she finally clambered out of that dark shaft, the New London sun beat down on her face. Looking around Katie saw that she was in an abandoned housing project, and not a single living thing appeared to be here. Katie slowly walked through the gates, looking around the streets for any sign of human life.
Finding none, she began to make her way through the dead streets, devoid of activity.
After hours of walking, she finally found other people. They were crowding the streets here, there was a celebration on, but that wasn't what Katie was interested in. She had spotted a ship dealer.
Maybe...
Maybe she could get back to Minor. Home.
Walking through the silver revolving door of the ship dealer, Katie took in her surroundings.
Across the mosaic floor, which depicted some Bretonian looking ship in cruise near New London, a small man wearing a gray suit stood behind a simple receptionists desk, working on a datapad. Behind him, row upon row of ships were hooked up into hanger-bay indents into the walls, Light fighters, freighters, even the occaissional Heavy fighter. Scores of mechanics stood on scaffolds around the ships, maintaining them with a plethora of different mechanical tools, welders, drills, saws, even the occasional plasma torch.
Walking across the floor silently to the little man with the datapad, Katie cleared her throat to attract his attention, startling him inadvertently, the man jumped, fumbling with the datapad. Adjusting his glasses, he looked Katie over, grimacing at her unwashed state.
"Can I help you Ma'am?" The clerk asked with a sneer in his voice.
"Yeah, How much for a ship, anything, just so long as it flies." Katie asked, looking over the clerks shoulder at the rows of spacecraft.
The clerk adjusted his spectacles again, and looked down at his datapad. A few clicks and presses later, and he looked back up at her.
"We have a... Starflier here, for 5,000 Standard Sirius Credits, will that suffice?"
Katie raised an eyebrow, that was almost 50% of the normal asking price for a Starflier.
"5,000? Why so cheap?" Katie placed a hand on her hip, suspicious of the clerk.
The clerk brought up the information on the ship on his datapad, and read through it.
"It would appear, the Starflier is... Second hand." The clerk said, not looking up.
"How second hand are we talking? This thing had better be able to fly."
The clerk looked up for an instant, and looked down again.
"Look, 5,000, take it or leave it."
Katie sighed, looked around and turned back to the clerk.
"Alright. I'll take it."
The clerk looked up.
"Excellent. I'll have it brought out to the landing pad."
Katie nodded, and turned around curtly, before stepping confidently toward the revolving doors, and in a moment, she was just a face in the crowd.
Several hours later, Katies datapad bleeped. A message from the Clerk at the dealer.
Ms. MacDonald, your vessel is ready for you.
Attached to this message is the location.
Thank you for your custom
S&S Dealers.
Katie smiled, put her datapad back in her pocket, and began to make her way through the streets to the landing pad she had been directed to.
By the time she arrived, it was nearly sunset, and the sun cast long shadows along the pad, making the place seem eerie. The ship was ready, with 2 mechanics in green jumpsuits finishing some minor repairs.
Katie strode over to them, and a simple wave of her hand sent them away. Using the activation code the clerk gave her, the ships cockpit popped open, and the stench of stale air wafted into her nostrils.
Nonetheless, Katie continued undeterred, and climbed into the stale old cockpit. Strapping herself in, she closed the cockpits door with a hiss from the sealing process, and fired up the engines. With the comfortable sound of the engine in her ears, she set off for space, and the long journey Home.
Home. To Omicron Minor.
The journey had taken several long, hard, unbearable months, but finally, Katie neared the jumphole to Omicron Minor. The journey had been fraught with danger. Not only was the little starflier a peice of junk in the first place, but many unscrupulous inhabitants of Sirius were obliged to take advantage of that, and as a result the little ship was in terrible condition.
As Katie set up her approach to the Jumphole, her scanners beeped frantically, as if screaming in terror as 3 nomad craft appeared on the sensors. Katie rushed to the hole, but took several hard hits to the port side, and the craft was not going to hold on much longer.
The little ship was catapulted out of the hole, and Katie frantically broadcast a system wide distress call, but the transmitters were shot, and she wasn't even sure if it got out. The klaxon ringing in her ears added to the intense horror of the moment, as she wrestled with the ships controls. The engines whining was a voice for the ships pain and torment, and with a horrible crushing sound the little ship slammed into an asteroid, embedding itself into the rock. Katie was slammed against the ships console, and with a crack, several of her ribs were smashed, and she collapsed in pain into the seat.
For a moment that seemed like an hour, Katie sat, groaning in pain, until a voice came through the communications array. Someone had heard her! They were on their way, but they would be some time, precious time. Time that she didnt have much of to spare.