Starlight A story by David R. 'Nutzoide' King Chapter 01: Holding Out Angelica hated the shuttle pod. She hated it more than was perhaps reasonable, but to her there was a very good reason to loath the tiny, cramped and - worst of all - ugly little thing. Being in it meant she wasn't in her own ship and that was a Very Bad Thing. The Crimson Scorn was her pride and joy, a small Delta model war cruiser she had spent four years customising and outfitting into the best outlaw ship in the galaxy, or at least that was her opinion of it! Yes, she was an outlaw. She didn't care. She was her own boss, she had her own ship, and she had fun! At least she had fun most of the time. Right now she was stuck in the shuttle pod she'd had to take to sort out a little misunderstanding with the local police about what was a suitable level of reward for her latest little capture. After all, he wasn't going to need that money, and she could always find a use for it! Unfortunately he'd had a rather sturdy ship himself and had decided that he'd rather ram his way out than get caught smuggling some less than legal merchandise. The law was after all very strictly controlled. It needed to be to govern interplanetary distances, especially since most people lived off-world nowadays. She crossed her arms moodily in the shuttle's one and only chair in its one and only room, the cockpit, and continued waiting for her beloved Crimson Scorn to appear. It had needed some rather major repairs after its run-in with the freight carrier and she had grudging left it in the capable hands of her technician Laura so the repairs could start while she was away. Unfortunately, three days of travel and heated negotiation later she was here but her ship was not. "When they get back they are in so much trouble!" It didn't help that they'd never used the shuttle before so they'd never had the chance to find out that the heating system was faulty, the toilet flush was stuck, the supplies cabinet didn't have any supplies, the seats were hard and the entire interior was a highly depressing shade of avocado, so she was sitting there sweating like a pig and feeling very pissed off. She unbuckled her cape and tossed it behind the seat. Of the rest of her flashily elaborate ivory coloured outfit, only the jacket and tight trousers still covered her modesty besides her underwear - the shoulder guards, bracers, shin guards and boots sitting with the red-lined cape on the floor behind her. Even her pale tunic had been discarded. Her outfit was designed for style, ease of movement and a moderate level of protection since her chosen profession could get rather dangerous. It wasn't designed for adverse temperature conditions. She sat there gazing out into space. Most of the time she was too busy chasing money or whatever had most recently taken her fancy to just sit and stare. Contemplative moods made her antsy. She wanted to be out doing... well, something other than staring out into space. She had to admit though it was a fairly nice bit of space to be staring at. The asteroid field out to the port side was lit up by the gas cloud behind it, giving it a supernatural green-blue glow. She unbuttoned a bit more of the jacket and brushed her golden blonde hair back from her face, feeling very glad she had decided to cut it. Anything longer than her current shoulder length would have been unbearable right now. From behind her came a pitiful meowl and she looked back to see her black cat Tangalo looking very bedraggled. Evidently he didn't like the heat either. She smiled. "Hey Tangalo, get over here, come on." At the sound of her voice he perked up and leaped into her lap, leaning into her hand as she petted him. Tangalo was definitely a 'people cat' and would take as much attention as he could get. Then, out ahead of her, she saw a small flash light up the blackness for an instant. She had seen enough explosions in her five years as an outlaw to know that was exactly what it was. She was also pretty sure of exactly what, or more specifically who, it was. She swore violently and reached for the pod controls, sending Tangalo leaping out of her lap. "Damn it Jhonas, if you've made another raid on some passing idiot without my permission I am going to KILL YOU!" Tangalo retreated to the back of the pod and curled up. Even he knew the one very vital rule. Never make Lady Angelica angry. Ever. *** On the other side of the blast a small, well armed recreational ship also saw the explosion. The Maria's Summer wasn't an expensive ship, it wasn't particularly roomy considering you could live your entire life in it, and it was perhaps one of the most difficult ships to fly ever created. Its saving grace was that it had all the things a ship needs to work well and they worked very well indeed. One such thing was the navigational scanner, which was currently making one hell of a noise because the owner and pilot wasn't at the controls. This in itself wasn't anything particularly unusual. Travel between outposts could easily take more than a week and it took even the most modern commercial cruisers a year or more to traverse from planetary system to planetary system. Include that the practice of actually piloting any vehicle capable of space flight was notoriously difficult and that meant that the inclusion of at least an auto-pilot was a real necessity. However, this was the noise that let the pilot know he or she was needed back at the controls because something had just come up that could potentially cause problems. That something was the explosion. Crow October sighed, put down his book, and headed for the cockpit. He was a fairly tall and gangly young man who had more than once been mistaken for a non-human. This didn't mean he was ugly by any means, in fact he had a sort of effeminate beauty to his features, but he was almost painfully thin which made his arms seem longer than they really were and the hair around his face fell to his chin framing him and making him look almost classically Elfin. The contrast of black hair, the rest of which was cut short, and orange eyes only made his very pale skin seem more surreal. He sat down and cut the incessant bleeping of the navigation warning, letting his gentle piano music fill the ship once again. "Okay, what's up?" He brought up the event screen and scanned the list for whatever had caused the alert. He thought for a minute before taking manual control and altering course slightly to head for the remains of whatever it had been. He also armed the ship's guns. It paid for a bounty hunter to be cautious, and he was no exception, but he wasn't going to leave anyone over there to their fate. And perhaps he could make a bit of extra money. *** "This is the Maria's Summer calling disabled vessel registered Deacon-09572#5. Moonlight, are you okay over there? ... Moonlight, please reply, do you need any help?" The radio just responded with static. Crow left the radio channel open and slowly manoeuvred his ship alongside the Moonlight to start coupling preparations. Whoever it was was in very bad shape judging from the amount of damage they had taken. At least one of the external engines had been totally obliterated and she was leaking air and some sort of fluid from the topside. It was a total write off. The ship that had exploded was a lost cause. At least he knew it had been quick because there was nothing left of it except shrapnel. Whatever had destroyed it must have been devastating. Judging by the state of the Moonlight though he didn't feel sorry for them. There was no way in hell that the unarmed cargo ship could have initiated the attack. As soon as the coupling gantry was in place he quickly got into one of the pressurised emergency suits and headed for the airlock. There was no way of knowing if they had depressurised completely over there or whether what he had seen from the outside was contained. He could only hope there were no survivors from the other destroyed ship still onboard because there was no way he would be able to hold a gun while in the suit. The inside wasn't in much better condition than the hull. The hallway was pockmarked with bullet holes and it looked like the doors had either been forced open or blown in. He checked the readout panel of the pressure suit then removed the helmet and unfastened himself when it read there was indeed air there. He left the suit at the airlock door and headed further inside, very glad he wasn't restricted to the canned air that came with it. Even a quick glance around could tell him the entire ship had been ransacked. Almost anything that wasn't stuck down had been taken and one of the cargo bays at the back was empty. The other was locked tight and the warning light above the door was flashing, letting him know that that was the room that had been blasted out. He didn't hold out any hope of finding anyone now. Despite the damage done he hadn't seen anyone, or any bodies, so it was likely they had been taken with the cargo and been killed along with the pirates. Then he entered the cockpit, and had to force himself not to gag. The wall and mesh floor were splattered with blood that dripped slowly down onto the wiring below, giving off the foul stench of burning meat and plastic as the thick red fluid seeped into the circuitry. The pilot sat slumped in her chair, her pale green clothes coloured reddish black as the blood flowed slowly from the hole in her stomach. Crow had never seen an abattoir, but he guessed this couldn't be far from it. "Oh God." He rushed over to the prone woman and pressed his fingers to her throat checking for a pulse. Amazingly, weak and irregular as it was, he found one. Without another thought he hefted her onto his back and out to the gantry. There was no way he could do anything here. He lay her down at the airlock and caught his breath, wishing his anaemia didn't make him feel so weak. Even carrying her this short distance was enough to start tiring him out. He was relieved to find that the cupboard outside the airlock still had a few extra suits inside and he hurriedly bundled the woman's unconscious form inside one of them. It would be quicker than pressurising the coupling gantry. As soon as he was back on his ship he lay her out in the bathtub and wrapped a towel around her middle, tying it tight in a futile attempt to stop the bleeding. He wasn't a medic though. he thought. He dashed into the cockpit, brought up his maps and began scanning them for their location. He had just found it when the radio came to life again. "Hey you, what the hell's goin' on here? If you're lootin' this thing I'll ram you all the way to hell!" Crow looked up in surprise. There was a shuttle pod in the window. Then it struck him. She might be from the other ship. He swung the forward gatling cannon around to target her. "This is the Maria's Summer to unidentified shuttle. I'm just here to help out. Where did you come from?" Angelica *humph*ed into her radio. "This is my rendezvous with my ship. I saw the blast and thought one of my crew went A.W.O.L. again. Who are you?" "I was just headed for the Tinzari station, but I've got someone dying here. She needs help fast. Do you have any medical expertise or anything?" "No, but there's an outpost a couple of hours away that could help you out. Say, you haven't seen any other ships around here have you?" Crow could barely believe her lack of concern. "What? No, just the pirates that got themselves blown up. Look, this is serious, which way's the outpost?" "Alright already, head for point 09-12-errr...87. And if you see the Crimson Scorn tell them I want them back here now!" Crow paused as the coupling gantry was retracted. Crimson Scorn? He took control of the rest of the ships guns and swung them around. "Don't move or I shoot you down. You're coming with me." He was glad this was just over the radio. He could never have made threats in person and be taken seriously. "Huh?!? What the hell's this? Are you crazy?" "I'm making an arrest under article seven of the Bounty Hunter's Charter for the attack on an unarmed vessel and attempted murder." "WHAT?" Crow frowned into the radio. "The Crimson Scorn made the attack on this ship. I found a registration chip on my scan of the debris." Angelica's heart practically stopped. "D-Debris? My Ship! THAT SON OF A BITCH BLEW UP MY SHIP!" Crow double checked that his ships' weapons were armed and started the engines. "Don't try anything stupid. Your ship attacked her and there's a good chance she might not live through this. You'll stay along my port side and come with me. If your crew did go A.W.O.L. you don't have anything to worry about, but that's up to the authorities to decide." Angelica growled into the radio, her hands twitching for her sword. "Damn right I'm comin'! And she'd better survive because *I'M* goin' to kill her!" Crow gave the pod a wary look as he moved off. He didn't think she'd really heard a word he said. *** Angelica stared angrily at her hands as she sat in the hospital. Jhonas would have been in very serious trouble right now if he wasn't already dead. She'd never lost a crewmember before, let alone her entire crew AND her ship. Somehow it didn't really seem real since she couldn't see their bodies. They'd been vaporised along with the ship. Her ship. That was at least something she could focus her anger on. That woman was the reason her beautiful ship was gone, and she was going to make sure she paid through the nose for it. It was about now Laura would have reminded her that it wasn't really that woman's fault, and they couldn't blame her for it, but Laura wasn't there any more. Angelica sighed. Laura hadn't deserved to die. She'd been as innocent as they come. All the depression was getting to her so she decided to take a walk. She hated thinking like this. She headed through the pristine white and sky blue halls to the cafe, her 'protection' coming right along with her. She was still a suspect so she had to have an escort wherever she went, at least until they could get the reply back from Tinzari to verify she had indeed been away on business when the attack took place. She had decided early on that she didn't like the cop. He looked at her like a bug he'd rather be squashing so she gave the same look right back. She was the Lady Angelica and she was not going to be intimidated by a policeman. She bought herself some coffee and headed back out to her seat in the hall. Sitting in some crowded cafe wasn't her style. "Hey, are you comin' or what?" she asked the guard bluntly. He just gave her 'the look' and followed behind her swishing cape as she marched off. Angelica sat down and took a sip of her coffee. she thought to herself. It hadn't made her feel much better either. "Hey, you're off the hook." She turned to see the owner of the voice. He was pretty tall and devastatingly pale, wearing a white open shirt and black slacks which were held up by a gold buckled belt. His large cuffed sleeves were rolled up passed his elbows and both his forearms and his torso were bandaged up although she didn't think he seemed to be in any pain. He couldn't have been any older than her, probably nineteen or so. "Jeez, what happened to you?" Crow frowned. He'd already had that from two of the doctors and was getting very fed up with it. "If you've got a problem with this stuff," he held up his forearms, "get over it. They got word from the Tinzari chief of police, so you're free to go as long as you don't plan on doing anything to the woman we brought in." For Crow's part he thought she was dressing like a warrior noble or something with her elaborate red and ivory outfit, like a poor (or was that rich?) girl playing dress up. Apparently she was 20 (he'd read her police bio on the way up) but she looked like a teen. If anything she was cute and petite in pretty much every department, although her clothes were obviously designed to subtly make the most of what assets she had. Angelica *humph*ed and got up. "So you're the guy with the patchwork ship huh? I thought you'd be older." "And I thought you'd feel more responsible for your crew." Crow couldn't help feeling that he was towering over her. She couldn't have been more than four inches shorter than him but somehow she just seemed small. Maybe it was all that clothing. "They really screwed up there." "One guy - it was just one asshole who did this." She frowned at him. "I only hired him 'cos he was good with a gun. She didn't have to kill all of them. I hope she's bein' brought up on charges for this." Crow frowned right back. "She has a permit for transporting hazardous material. As far as the law is concerned your crew got themselves killed." "Bullshit!" She threw a punch at a passing service mechanoid but only succeeded in bruising her knuckles. "Whatever. Maybe Jhonas was dumb enough to 'jack somethin' freaky. I wouldn't've put it past him. Anyway, she owes me a new ship. Where is she? And where's my sword?" Crow could tell she was going to be stubborn about this. "Outpost security has the weapon, and I'm going to see her now. She just got out of surgery." Angelica nodded. "Right, let's go then." As they walked Crow had to wonder how much longer he would be playing message boy to the understaffed station police. He had his own things to do. "Just don't try anything." "Yeah yeah, whatever. I saw what she did to my ship." "You saw what they did to hers too." Crow was a little confused about her attitude. She had after all been the one to warn him about his morals if he had been a looter. "Like I said, Jhonas was always an idiot. He was just useful, and Laura said I should give him a chance." Somehow she had always ended up listening to Laura. "Laura?" Angelica shook her head. "Doesn't matter, she's dead." The pair walked in very awkward silence until they came to the room. "This her?" Angelica looked through the window into the recovery room. She looked a mess in her opinion. She was probably a little taller and older than Angelica herself and was pretty generously endowed, which only served to make Angelica more annoyed. Her messy hair looked like it had been cut short once and let grow again for a bit, hanging over her eyes, ears and neck. It also looked like it had never been brushed, sticking out at odd angles as she lay there. And inside the room Jei Tazenten stirred in her sleep. *** Sylvie Ferr knew it was coming soon enough. She'd known it would for four years, yet each time she was spared the pain. "Banpail Outpost this is the Gal's Army. We've got your new mining equipment. Are we okay to dock?" "Nice to see you Gal's Army, you've just saved out bacon. You picked a hell of a time to drop in. Gate five's free though." "Thank you Banpail. Bye bye." Sylvie looked over from the radio to her business partner and best friend at the ship's controls. It was a good thing one of them had passed the pilot's training at the academy, and she really did look the part. Yae was a poster child for the militia, at least from the outside. Not too tall, well muscled and with short hair dyed jet black, a single long strand falling down her face. Sylvie never could understand why Yae was mistaken for a boy. True, she was fairly flat chested and her baggy clothes didn't do anything but make her shoulders look broader, but her tomboyish attitude didn't make her any less female. Yae grinned as she got the ship into the docking gate and gave her a thumbs up. Sylvie smiled back, but underneath it she felt hollow inside. She got up and headed over to one of the other consoles and began to update their logs. That was their docking procedure; she would finish dealing with the ship while Yae found them quarters for the night. Now that she came to think of it they had a little procedure like that for everything. She'd never noticed before. Then again she supposed it was common sense. Two people running an eight man ship was quite a job after all. Just like clockwork Yae gave a mighty stretch and jumped out of her seat, heading for the door. She gave Sylvie the sloppy salute she always did as she left. "See you later Syl." Sylvie nodded and gave another smile. She raised her little panda teddy bear in one hand and waggled its arms with her fingers. "Bye bye Yae." Yae chuckled at her childish habit and gave the panda a little wave before she stepped out of the door. Sylvie couldn't help but feel relieved as she watched her go. She needed a few hour alone to think. She stared down at the stuffed toy panda in her arms. "What am I going to do Andy?" *** Two hours later Yae Kann sat in the room she had rented for them, a resolute expression on her face. Today was the day she finally told Sylvie how she felt. It had been long enough in coming after all! They'd known each other since they were 10 years old! She got up and began to walk purposefully down to the docking station. Sylvie would be overseeing the unloading. That was what she did. Yae could never sit still long enough to do things like that. It had taken her years to realise what she felt for Sylvie. It was more than just the fact that, at the academy, it had been popular girl Sylvie - of all people - who had been her best friend and roommate. The only real friend she had had there. She was wrenched from her thoughts when she collided with one of the miners, knocking them both off balance. "Hey, watch where you're going, huh?" Yae smiled apologetically and tried to keep going. "Heh heh, sorry sorry, my fault!" she thought as she picked up her stride again Thankfully she managed to get to the dock without any more collisions, and she took a deep breath before heading up into their ship. She had to fight a lump in her throat as she reached the cockpit. Sylvie still looked stunning, just like she always did. A somewhat shy and sometimes childish young woman, and somehow she managed to make more friends and turn more heads than anyone else Yae had ever known. Her casually messy dark blonde hair cascaded down her back and her bangs hung all around her cute thin face. Her frameless glasses made her eyes seem a little bigger, making her look younger than her 22 years of age, and she was only just over five foot, despite having a stunning thin figure which wasn't hidden by her jeans and light red tank top. And on her lap was her panda Andy. She'd never been more than twelve feet from it since the moment it had arrived. It would have been hard to find two people with such different personalities, and yet have so much in common. Their love of antique guns for one. To Yae there was no-one else she could ever wish to have with her on that ship. And as usual the doubt began to creep into her mind. Was she doing the right thing? What would happen if Sylvie didn't feel the same way? Finally she stomped the question down. She would never know if she never asked. "Sylvie, have you got a moment?" she asked a little hesitantly. Sylvie seemed to stiffen slightly, but Yae knew that she did. "Yes. What, ummm... what is it?" Yae plucked up her courage and sat down next to her. "Well, we've been friends nearly forever. You helped me when I didn't have anyone else and we've been through a lot together. I can't even remember a time when it wasn't me and you and... I love you Syl, and I kind of have for a long time." Sylvie felt Yae's hope overwhelm her. So many times she had wished her 'talent' would be easier to use. The almost telepathic connection to those closest to her. She could never use as well as she wanted to because the experiments that gave it to her had never been fully finished. Now she just wished she could turn it off. "Yae, I know, and you're the best friend in the world..." And then she felt Yae's hope shatter. A beautiful stained glass window that her own hand had just destroyed. Yae looked at her, her smile fading into the most gentle yet most acute sadness she had ever known. "But here's a 'but', isn't there?" It was a question, but she already knew the answer, and Sylvie couldn't meet her eyes. "I... I can't love you like that. It's just, I don't think I could love any woman like that. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." The mere idea of loving another woman in such a way felt so foreign to her, and yet here she was, feeling her best friend's heart break right in front of her. Sylvie placed her head in her hands and wept, but she looked up when she felt Yae place a hand on her shoulder. Yae was smiling, even as the tears formed in her eyes. "It's okay Syl." She gave a sniff. "I'm a big girl now, I can handle it." Slowly she rose to her feet again. Sylvie looked after her, wishing there was something else she could say. "Yaedite..." Yae stopped and turned back, still smiling as a tear rolled down her cheek. "Sylvie, you know I hate it when you call me that. It's just Yae." Sylvie nodded. "You're still my best friend Yae." Yae nodded. "Of course. I just need to go and sort myself out for a bit. See ya'." When she was gone Sylvie grabbed Andy Panda and hugged him trying to force Yae's emotion out of her head as her best friend's grief flowed over her. Several minutes later she returned to her work before heading to their room, overcome with grief and guilt. Somehow, she promised herself, she would find a way to help her. *** Yae sat in the cafe even though the kitchen had long since closed, her hands wrapped around a cup of slowly cooling coffee. She didn't know what to do now. She had never really thought about what would happen if Sylvie didn't feel the same way. She would handle it and get on with her life. She would force herself to for Sylvie's sake. They would get another job here and she could get back to work, not sit and wish things had been different. Perhaps it had been better not knowing. She felt a fresh bout of sobs start up and she lay her head in her arms on the table, the rest of the world long forgotten as she cried herself to sleep. *** To Be Continued... *** Author's Notes: Thanks to RealFolkBlues for Lady Angelica, KanemakiMiyuri for Crow October and Lan-chan for Sylvie Ferr and Yaedite Kann.