Forgotten Past: Chapter Twenty Four-Quest For Knowledge
“Extend.”
Carolyn gritted her teeth and unfolded the wings, extending them
straight out as far as they’d go. The doctor had concluded that they
were done growing, finally.
Waiting for some sort of response to her stretch, Carolyn listened to the
dead silence behind her. A sudden shift of footing and she felt annoyed
and frustrated at the doctor’s silence. “Well?” she snapped when the
silence lingered.
The doctor jumped nervously before replying, “Five feet from tip to
shoulder blade. An approximate wing span of eleven feet.”
Dropping her head wearily, she folded the wings closed, then opened
them again slowly, deciding to wrap them around her like a cape. The
tips fell to her ankles and she tossed her hair back over her shoulders.
Jack entered the room and sat down. Carolyn lifted a questioning
eyebrow. “Yes?”
“Ahsatan is docking now,” Jack murmured. This new Carolyn was a bit
frightening, she admitted to herself. The wings, the claws, the black
glowing eyes... It was all something else. The long blonde hair swirling
around her knees and the black, cape-like wings.
A sharp nod was her only response as Carolyn went to sweep by Jack.
Before she could pass, Jack snagged her wrist, raising in one fluid
motion to her feet, silver eyes glowing in the dark room.
“Carolyn,” she whispered quietly, her grip loosening slightly on
Carolyn’s wrist.
Carolyn realized that in all the time Jack had been on board The
Charmer, she’d never talked to the girl. The woman. No longer a girl,
Carolyn thought.
Carolyn placed her free hand on Jack’s shoulder and smiled cynically,
shaking her head. “Damn, I’m sorry, Jack. I know I haven’t been the
best company lately.”
“Don’t apologize for that, Carolyn. I’m not going to pretend I know
what you’re going through, or what you’ve been through already. I
thought that wasteland had gotten you, and I’m just glad to see you still
alive. I just hope we can be friends...”
Jack looked away, trailing off. Then she lifted her eyes and locked them
firmly with Carolyn’s. “I’ve never been to good with people, so I don’t
have a lot of friends. In fact, I don’t have any. But me and you, we’ve
been through some tough shit, and maybe we could hang on to each
other some times, ya know?”
Slightly shocked, Carolyn fluttered her wings slightly, the leathery skin
rippling. She’d never heard Jack talk that much at once. Her fingers
tightened on Jack’s shoulder. Strangely, she was warmed by Jack’s
offer of friendship, and she was also more than happy to accept.
Taking Jack’s strong hand in hers, she shook it and grinned at the
younger woman. “C’mere,” she growled roughly and pulled Jack close,
giving her a hug. It felt good to hang on to someone again. “Thank
you,” she said quietly as she pulled away, still keeping one arm around
Jack’s shoulders.
Jack grinned back. “Welcome.” She lowered her eyes to Carolyn’s
black wings. “What’s it like?” she asked quietly, her eyes curious.
Carolyn froze, her face thoughtful. “Scary,” she admitted finally, her
voice sounding tired. She looked Jack full in the face. “I’m scared out of
my mind. I just keep thinking, ‘What if it doesn’t end here?’” She shook
her head. “Terrifying...”
Then she smirked, her lips twisting. “But they eyes and claws are cool.”
Jack laughed. “I like your wings, too.” Changing the subject she
wrapped an arm around Carolyn’s waist as they strode on silent feet
from the Medical Bay. “Hungry?”
Carolyn nodded. “Famished. You?”
Jack nodded back. “Riddick and Bruce are at the cafeteria. Let’s eat.”
The cafeteria was almost completely empty. A few of Carolyn’s crew
nodded to her as she passed, completely disregarding the changes she’d
gone through. She was their captain, come hell or high water.
What she went through, they loyally went through with her.
The two women quickly spotted the men sitting at a round table in the
back, in a corner. Despite the safest setting they could all ask for,
instincts were hard to squelch, and they all sat within view of all exits.
Two sets of tense male eyes gazed at her as Jack and Carolyn
approached the table, arms still around each other. Riddick lifted a
dark brow and Bruce crossed his arms across his chest, leaning back in
his chair.
“Hi,” Jack said brightly, sitting beside Bruce, pointedly staying away
from Riddick. They still hadn’t come to terms about her taking off the
way she had.
Carolyn picked a spot away from everyone, keeping at least one chair
between herself, Bruce and Riddick. Jack was seated on the far side of
Bruce. She brought her wings up and folded them behind her, careful to
fold them behind the chair so they wouldn’t get crushed behind her.
They rustled softly as Riddick slid a tray of food to Carolyn and then
another to Jack.
“Dig in,” Bruce invited, picking up a plastic utensil.
Jack eyed hers warily. “What’s with my spoon?” she demanded.
Bruce turned to her and lifted his brows. “You mean fork?”
“Fork?” Jack repeated.
“It’s got tines, see?” Bruce pointed out the four little nubs sticking out
of the utensil.
“Spork,” Riddick offered, using his to spear a piece of sausage from his
plate and bringing it to his mouth.
“Spork,” Carolyn confirmed, using hers as well.
With a shrug, Jack dug in. They group at in silence, none of them big on
conversation, especially if it got between them and a warm meal. They
were sometimes hard to come by.
The Charmer rattled slightly and Carolyn looked up from her food.
“Reed’s here.”
Bruce nodded. “Want me to get him and bring him here, Creed?”
Carolyn shook her head. “Naw. My crew will get him settled in.”
Jack looked ready to explode.
Lifting blonde brows Carolyn indicated the door to Jack. “You can go
find Eddie if you’d like.”
There was another rattle as Bruce’s battle cruiser docked at the
opposite docking bay.
Jack snatched a handful of her sausages and raced off, almost knocking
her chair over as she hustled out of the room.
Carolyn waited till Jack left the cafeteria before turning to Riddick.
“You teach her that?” she questioned curiously.
Riddick lifted a inquiring brow before answering around a mouthful of
pancakes, “What?”
“It’s obvious. That girl can take care of herself. There’s extensive
training evident there.”
“How do you figure?” Riddick countered quietly.
Carolyn shrugged and examined the white nubs on her right hand and
her plate of sausage. She extended one claw and speared a sausage
experimentally, Bruce’s expression bemused as he watched her.
“She moves like you. Not as well, but she’s been working on it. And
there’s a calm about her that wasn’t there before. Not to mention the
way she handles that bone shiv strapped to her thigh...” Carolyn
twisted her lips. “And the eyes.”
Riddick’s own shined eyes rested on hers as he shoveled in more fluffy
pancakes. This was the best food he’d ever had in his life.
“Yeah,” he started, swallowing the pancakes and washing them down
with some sort of sweet milky drink. Not penirog, he noticed, thankful.
“I made her learn; not that she needed encouragement. I made her the
blade, too. She’s good, lot’s of brass, and I can tell she keeps up with
it.”
“She could be dangerous if she wanted to be,” Bruce commented,
flowing into the conversation.
Carolyn nodded. “Good. Everyone on my ship needs to hold their own.
Jack will be a great asset.”
“I’m glad she has somewhere to go now. To belong,” Riddick
commented, polishing off the rest of his breakfast.
At that moment, Reed came striding in to the cafeteria, his face tense.
He ducked into the very dimly lit room and froze, allowing his eyes to
adjust. He spotted Riddick, Bruce and Carolyn almost immediately and
began to stalk in their direction, his stride purposeful.
When he was directly in front of the group, Riddick stood, turning so he
was partly blocking Carolyn from Reed’s view. Riddick didn’t know
who the man was, and his first instinct was to stand between him and
Carolyn.
Reed froze, his eyes roving warily over Riddick’s form. Despite
Riddick’s relaxed features and stance, Reed was smart enough and
experienced enough to recognize strength and skill when he saw it. It
was clear as day that the man before him was plenty capable of
drawing his weapon, if he even needed one, and springing at him with
lightening speed.
Seeing Carolyn’s face over the man’s shoulder he turned his attention
back to Riddick and gave a curt nod. “Reed O’Dell. Ahsatan.”
Riddick sat, not bothering to answer.
Bruce recognized the same tactics Riddick had used on him when Bruce
had first boarded The Charmer. Despite his bad ass attitude and
obviously dangerous air, Bruce respected him and was glad that
Riddick was watching Carolyn’s back.
Riddick recognized another predator in their midst, as well as a
warrior ready for battle, and had respect for the man immediately. He
saw that Bruce and Carolyn, whatever their feelings for Reed, had
respect and trust for him as well.
Reed, never one to beat around the bush, jumped straight to the point,
pulling out a chair with his booted foot and sitting down in a fluid
motion. “The battle has started in full. The Company is trying to keep
the whole mess under wraps, but it’s exploded. The biggest battle so far
has been at Alta10.”
Carolyn’s wings rippled and Reed cast a glance at her, his attention
attracted by the sound and his mouth turned into a mask of shock.
Knowing that explanations would need to be made later, Carolyn
stretched the wings out to their full span then drew them back in
quickly. “I’ll answer questions later. Continue,” she stated, her voice
determined, her jaw stone hard.
Shaking out of his shock, Reed continued to address everyone at the
table. “The resistance took Alta10 two weeks ago. It’s ours!” Reed
froze, allowing this to sink in.
Bruce flashed a grin to no one in particular, and Riddick could
remember the position of power that Alta10 had. It was close to
Company HQ and located almost directly in the main shipping lanes, so
Riddick knew it was a major boon for the resistance.
“Rorrim, the main resistance group, is calling in all the other groups it
can,” Reed continued. “So,” he said, turning to Carolyn, “I need to
know if you’re in, Creed. We could really use you.”
Carolyn nodded, “Damn straight, I’m in. I need to land so I can start
having the aluthium plated over my ship, and I’m sure Bruce needs the
same. There might even be enough for yours.” She turned to Bruce.
“What do you think?”
Bruce made an agreeing noise and quickly shoveled the rest of his
breakfast into his mouth and finished his drink. “So we’re all in
agreement. You in, Riddick?”
“I’m game,” Riddick replied, swigging down the rest of the sweet drink.
Jack came back in the room, attached to Eddie Hoff’s arm. “We goin’
to battle?” she questioned, her face and voice serious.
Carolyn stood and nodded, picking up her tray and dumping the paper
plates and spork into the garbage before replacing the tray. “Start
spreading the word to everyone. We’ll touch down tomorrow at Jupiter
to start the plating process.”
Turning her full attention to the group, Carolyn’s mind flew over battle
plans and strategy. She’d never actually been to Alta10, so more
information would have to be acquired before she could actually go into
the fight. They’d have to leave immediately to help out any stragglers,
as well.
“Jack,” Carolyn began, setting the first part of her plan into motion.
“You start telling my crew to get ready for the plating process
tomorrow. They’ll know what to do.
“Bruce, Eddie, you find your people, make sure they’re fed and rested.
They’re going to need all the strength they can get for tomorrow. Same
goes for you, Reed.
“Riddick, you go with Jack.”
Jack opened her mouth to protest about being paired with Riddick, but
shut it when she caught Carolyn’s eye. Riddick was stoic and silent as
usual, merely giving a curt nod to say he’d been paying attention. As far
as Riddick was concerned, his problems with Jack could be handled
later.
“All right, all right,” Jack conceded, turning her back to them and
heading back out of the cafeteria, not bothering to wait for Riddick.
With a shrug, Riddick followed after her.
“And so it begins,” Reed murmured, then turned his dark gaze to
Carolyn. “I’m going to tell Jarod to inform my crew. Me and you need
to talk.”
Carolyn gave an agreeing nod, then turned to leave, wrapping her
wings around herself once more. Bruce shook Reed’s hand briefly and
left as well, leaving Reed alone.
He stood with his head bowed slightly before jogging after Carolyn. He
caught up to her easily and allowed her to lead him into a conference
room. He used the com link on the wall to contact Jarod and tell him to
start spreading the word about their plans.
Pulling on her dark glasses, Carolyn flicked on the lights for Reed’s
benefit and programmed the mutation information into the holo-screen.
When it popped up, she indicated for Reed to have a seat at the long,
rectangular table.
Reed sat as Carolyn began giving him the same information she’d given
Bruce and his crew when he’d arrived a few weeks earlier. “And now
you know what this is about,” she concluded, fluttering her wings.
When she got to Jupiter she’d start the retraining process. Strong
emotion was often shown by her extending her claws or fluttering her
wings and she’d need to learn to control that before it got her in
trouble.
Also, knowing the extent of her new abilities was important. Carolyn
was unsure of the strength of her claws, the extent of her senses and the
capabilities of her wings. Before she walked into any danger zones she’d
need to know her limitations.
Reed sat back, folding his arms across his broad chest, eyeing the
information still fixed on the screen. “You think the mutation is
complete?” he inquired.
Carolyn shrugged and leaned her hip against the table, taking a small
rest. “I haven’t the slightest. I can only pray that this is the end of the
whole ordeal.”
“The Company must be working on some sort of super-human project.
If they could eliminate weakness within their ranks with this mutation
the resistance would be done for. If absolute fear doesn’t freeze our
guys in their tracks, then animalistic abilities within the enemies ranks
will.” Reed ran an impatient hand through his hair, sending the short
strands into thick spikes. “The resistance won’t be able to handle a
strike like that. We have to win now before the Company gets this stuff
figured out completely.”
“I agree. So go help Jarod pull your crew together. Feed and water
them so they can get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a long day for
all of us.”
With that parting remark, Carolyn turned on her heal and left the
room. Reed was accustomed to Carolyn’s abrupt behavior and wasn’t
offended by her disappearing. That was just Carolyn.
“Good luck, Creed,” he murmured to himself, shutting off the operating
systems in the room, and quitting it himself.
~~~
“Any news on that Fry woman?” Munroe demanded of Martina.
Martina lifted his brows in annoyance as he spun his chair around to
face the General. “I’m a doctor, General, not an informant. You should
get professionals on it.”
A split second had Martina shifting his weight to the side to avoid a
vicious back hand from Munroe.
“I do not appreciate your insolence, Doctor,” Munroe gritted out,
straightening his uniform jacket.
Martina shrugged, unruffled after the General’s clumsy attack. “And I
don’t appreciate being treated like an errand boy. Find someone else. I
have other things to do. If you want this technology figured out, I
recommend getting out of my lab. Go do something more constructive
than bothering me.”
Munroe’s raised hand was caught in a velvet grip as he was spun
around, finding himself face to face with Sleke, her orange eyes burning
with hatred.
“Hello, General,” she drawled, her voice a menacing purr. “You
wouldn’t be attempting another attack now, would you?”
With a nervous jerk, Munroe pulled his hand away from Sleke’s tail,
stumbling back a step. “Of course not,” he answered, visibly calming
himself.
“Good,” Sleke purred, gliding past him and twisting her hair up. Her
heavy leather boots made no noise on the metal floor as she stalked over
to Martina’s desk, perching on the edge easily. Her orange eyes blazed
as she eyed General Munroe warily, her protection over Martina
evident.
Regaining his calm, Munroe brushed a strand of hair away from his
face, pushing it behind his ear. “I’ll be back to check your progress and
fill you in on what I know,” he said, turning on his heal.
“Yes, sir,” Martina answered caustically. Munroe froze as if to turn
and reprimand Martina once more, then continued as if thinking better
of that action.
When Munroe was gone from the room, Sleke lifted her nose to the air
and inhaled slowly. “He’s gone,” she confirmed.
Martina let out a loud sigh. “Finally. That man works a nerve.”
“Tell me about it,” Sleke replied bitterly.
“You ready to give this a shot?” Martina questioned, switching his
focus to the matter at hand.
Sleke nodded, brushing a lock of black hair away from her eyes. “As
ready as I’ll ever be.”
Once more, Martina was surprised by the serious manor Sleke was
capable of having. It was obvious the other Sleke had been a mask,
covering her true self. Shaking out of his mind wanderings, Martina
stood and directed Sleke to the long, tube like machine.
It looked like one of the old cat-scan machines and Sleke eyed it
curiously.
“This will probably be very painful,” Martina said. “You sure you want
to do this?”
“I have no past. No matter how hard I try to bring up the memories, all
I get is a migraine,” Sleke answered in confirmation.
“You’re gonna get a hell of a lot more than that in there,” Martina
answered, beginning to prep the machine. He was beginning to become
uncomfortable with his job working for the Company.
The experiments had started on deadly criminals, which hadn’t
bothered Martina in the least. Rapists, murders, child molesters... the
usual scum. They weren’t getting it any worse than they deserved. But
then they’d started pulling in people that weren’t convenient for them.
Sleke had been his last experiment, and in his own mind he’d made a
vow to stop the mutation on innocents then and there. And after seeing
Sleke vulnerable and desperate for a past, Martina decided that this
was the end completely. He was going to leave the Company first
chance he got. Maybe, just for spite, he’d join the resistance and bring
the Company down. He’d figure that all out later though, he told
himself as he finished prepping.
Sleke’s tail twitched nervously and she eyed the long trey like bed that
slid out of the tube. Restraints were attached to the bed and Martina
turned to her slowly.
“This is not going to be a comfortable situation,” he explained. “I have
to tie you down so you don’t hurt yourself in there. You ready?”
Sleke sat on the bed and stretched out. “I thought we covered that
subject already,” she answered.
“As ready as you’ll ever be. Right. Okay.” Martina began tying Sleke to
the table, first her wrists and ankles, followed by a belt across her waist
and shoulders, then her knees.
“Try and get out of it. Try hard,” Martina directed.
Sleke struggled against the padded restraints and when Martina was
sure she wouldn’t be able to pull out of them, he nodded and hit the
button to slide Sleke into the machine.
Panic began to edge into her mind as she slid inside. The opening at the
end closed at her feet and bright lights began to flash. Sleke closed her
eyes against the bright irritation and a feeling overcame her senses. It
felt like someone was tickling her brain and she twitched violently, her
tail lashing about.
She forced it between her legs, wrapping it tightly. A sudden shudder
wracked her and she screamed, her tail tightening to a point that it was
cutting off circulation to her leg.
A sickening snap echoed in the tube with her screams of pain and she
felt her leg break from the force of her tail. Sleke screamed louder.
Then the pain stopped, leaving Sleke whimpering. She forced her tail to
loosen as she took in deep, ragged breaths, calming her nerves, ignoring
the pain.
A few minutes passed, and it felt like the memories were surfacing.
Then it started again. The bright lights turned back on, flashing like so
many fireflies behind her clenched eyelids.
The pain returned and she screamed. Sleke screamed like she’d never
screamed before. She screamed until the black void swallowed her mind
and pulled her into blessed oblivion.
***