@Dragondream: That's very kind of you to say, but this is where it came from so this is where it's staying
Though if I'm ever out of work in the future, I might do just that.And now, without further ado...
Best Served Cold
Epilogue
“He’s coming around. Hand me some of that water.”
The voice was female, brisk and insistent, but quite gentle – and utterly unfamiliar. I was lying on my back on a cushioned surface, and through my closed eyelids I could tell it was bright out there. Around me I could hear noises, the normal clicks, whirrs and beeps of a ship, the rumbling of her engines conducted through the hull, you know the kind of thing. Mixed into it were a generous helping of equipment rattling and a few pairs of shuffling feet. The clinking of glass preceded her next words.
“If you can hear me, just nod or move your head, or your hand. Don’t try to speak or open your eyes for the moment.”
Have you ever tried to obey an instruction like that? Waking up and having someone tell you not to open your eyes, when you have no idea where you are? It’s really, really difficult. I failed, and it hurt. There were lights above me shining straight down into my eyes, so I shut them again, fast. It still left images dancing over my retina though.
“So you heard me, even if you didn’t listen?”
I nodded, weakly.
“I’m going to elevate you, and put a glass of water to your lips. Don’t try to empty it, just take a small sip or two. There’s plenty, but your system won’t cope with much right now.”
Whatever I was lying on moved. From under my shoulders and neck I felt motors come to life and the couch raised me up to a reclined position. True to her word, there was a glass at my lips and I took a small sip as I’d been told. I hadn’t realised how raw my throat had felt until the water cascaded over it. I took another, and a third.
“That’s enough. Keep at it like that and you’ll just throw it all back up again and it’ll do you no good. Whoever you are, you’re in pretty rough shape and you’ll need a lot of help to get you back to 100%. You have 40% burns over your back, radiation poisoning, hypothermia and vacuum exposure. The hypoxia should have worn off by now, you’ve been on oxygen since we picked you up. You’ve also suffered a fractured skull and whiplash injuries to your neck. We found your blood inside your helmet - the skull impacted your suit’s visor housing, which is no mean feat. You were in one hell of a bang there. Lucky to be alive at all, and you’re not out of the woods yet. We can do some basic things here to stabilise you, but realistically you need a full hospital suite and we just don’t have one.”
I thought I’d risk my voice – but what came out wasn’t my voice. It was a bizarre parody of it, hoarse and harsh.
“Who are you? Where am I? How did I get here?”
That was it – I was exhausted and my once-more raw throat gave up. The glass returned and I gratefully took another couple of small sips.
“I told you not to speak. I can’t answer your questions. You’ll get your answers soon enough. Not from me, though. Now sleep.”
The motors whirred again and I returned to a prone position. All my limbs felt heavy, like I was on a high-G planet; but I didn’t have the crushing sensation from my chest that I’d expect lying down in those conditions – and I’d already decided I was on some sort of ship. There were voices in the room, muffled and indistinct though one of them was surely the woman who’d spoken to me. They seemed distant, and tired as I was they suddenly seemed much more distant, a second before oblivion took me back.
“Futz you!”
The slap brought me to full wakefulness. It left a stinging imprint on my cheek, and it had been delivered with venom.
“I should smother you where you lie, murderer! What had he ever done to you?! We gave you chances, you sold us lies. And then you killed him, in cold blood. I ought to turn you straight over to the Argon Authorities but I want to watch you die myself!”
The voice was harsh, angry, wracked with sobs… But it was definitely Lisa Farnsworth. I guessed she had good reason to be all three, I had killed her father after all.
"I trusted you. I believed you. You said he hadn’t arrived, must have been delayed or maybe even shot down on the way, when you repaid your loan in full – so he wouldn’t have even been aggressive, if you’d got the money. What in the name of all the hells happened, Danna?"
It was still too bright to open my eyes, and I had no idea how long had passed since the last time I’d been conscious – but it must have been a while, a good few stazuras. My throat burned, and I couldn’t speak more than a croak or a whisper; so that’s what I had to do.
“Did you find him? Did you hear the recording playing in his suit?”
“Sector patrols spotted him, pulled him in. The doctor said he’d been dead for about three stazuras when they got to him. They didn’t say anything about a recording. Enough cryptic argnucrap, tell me what happened.”
I heard a metallic scraping noise, probably Lisa pulling up a chair or stool.
“Make it good. The only thing between you and a life sentence – or a death sentence – is the fact I don’t know what happened yet. Out with it.”
I spared her the finer details of Dominic’s torture and execution; no point going into that. However, I did not spare her the finer details of Sarma’s message, or Dominic’s confession. I didn’t have a copy of Sarma’s recording, and at that point I couldn’t get to the ship that did. Even if I’d been able to contact Sarma’s Peace, I guessed Val would have had me declared deceased by then, and possibly changed the access codes. I knew if I survived I’d have to get in touch with her somehow; I just about remembered the wave code.
“I can’t prove it, without showing you a copy of that message – but he admitted it to me, and yes; I killed him for it, or at least I put him in a position where he was unlikely to survive. That’s all there is – he was a monster, and now he’s gone. I took no pleasure in it, and I’d hoped to spare you the knowledge of what he was. It was all I could do to repay you for taking your Father away.”
My whispering had been easier on my throat but it was rapidly going downhill so I stopped. Lisa sat in silence for a couple of mizuras while she pondered; whether she was debating my fate, or trying to come to terms with what I’d told her about Dominic I never did discover.
“You should face trial. You’re a murderer.”
“So was he. And in court, I’d have no choice but to produce that recording. It would destroy your company, and your family’s name. Could you live with that, the whole of the sector knowing what he was and what he did? Isn’t it better to leave it this way, shot down by a ruthless pirate rather than dragging his – and your – name through the mud? Losing your business?”
The ringing slap at least was on the other side of my face, so I probably had matching prints. She stormed out, shoes clattering on the deck. I realised I’d been tensed-up, so I consciously made myself relax, and after a while sleep overtook me again.
Over the next few tazuras I was nursed carefully back to some semblance of health – not fully of course, but I could at least get up and walk around within what I learned was little more than a cell with medical equipment. Hospital wards rarely have locked doors, in my experience.
I didn’t see Lisa again for almost a wozura, and when she did return I was lying on my chest waiting to have the derma-seal on my back reapplied. She came around to the head of the bed, and took a seat. I couldn’t really move my head, so I spent the entire conversation staring pretty much at her expensively-clad knees and feet.
“You’ll say nothing. To anyone.”
Lisa wasn’t pleading – she was demanding, more than anything else.
“One hint that you’ve shown that recording to the authorities, and I will turn you in for murder without a heartbeat’s hesitation. I hear even the slightest rumour about my father, or my company, or our methods, and I will have you hunted down by the Argon police and executed like the heartless animal you are. And while they’re hunting you, my forces will be hunting Ms. Kleppen with some very vague orders about how she is to be treated. I’ve been very thorough, Danna. I know your associates. I knew where to find you, what ship you were flying, and how to destroy it without you realising what was happening. It’s unfortunate that you survived, but once it was clear you hadn’t been vaporised, I had to face you myself. You’ll be pleased to know that the pocket battleship you had helping you made a safe exit from the system, and that a number of wanted Pirates were picked up in the transports. You did your job well – but you didn’t see my decoy arrive at the South gate or this ship hiding amongst the asteroids. The very expensive remote-guided missile doesn’t lock onto a target, and therefore doesn’t trigger warning systems. You really had no chance to escape, but you made it very easy by just sitting there admiring your handiwork. Valerie will fare no better than you did, if you fail to cooperate. And you wouldn’t want yet another death on your conscience, would you?”
“I had no intention of going to the authorities, Lisa. My actions were not aimed at you, or your company. Believe it or not, I thought you were a good person, unaware of your father’s excesses – I didn’t want to cause you any more grief than I have already. That’s why I lied to you, to spare you the things I’ve now had to tell you. I’m sorry I have caused you this much pain; but I couldn’t let him run free to do the same thing to someone else. I don’t know how many more cases there have been like that, and I think it’s better that I don’t. Better that you don’t, either. Remember him for the memories you’ve shared, not how he died or why.”
Her hands, which had been loosely clasped together in her lap, now flexed. The knuckles went white as her hands squeezed together, and a tear fell onto them. A long, shaky and drawn-out sigh, almost a wail, and she stood.
“The doctors tell me you’re healthy enough to survive on your own now. Well enough to get yourself to a hospital at least. In a little over a tazura you’ll be transferred from here to the trading station in Argon Prime. I don’t ever want to see you again, or even hear of you. Stay out of the news, out of my sector and out of my way. Remember. One word, and you’ll face trial – and you’ll kill Kleppen. One word.”
The expensively-shod feet strode away.
True to her word, a tazura later I stood in the bar on Argon Prime’s Federal Trading Station. I took a deep drink from a long, cold, Delaxian beer and keyed the terminal in front of me.
“I believe you’re in need of an escort pilot. I just happen to be a bit of a hot-shot, looking for work and recently listed as deceased, which is making things difficult. I’m also looking for a ship, so if you can meet me at the Trading Station at Argon Prime, you can interview me for the job. Bring SuperNova with you…”
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