[story] Saber Chase

[Dartz]

Hmmm.... We have enough trouble without pony-ships.

And now... the next.

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Seeing her notepad becoming a conflicted scribble, Maico figured it was time to call it a fay. She managed to find her way out of the SilkyDoll on her own. The landing bay was still a tomb for an elder God, vast and silent, overlooked by the Dragon Wagon II and that huge gantry crane it was suspended from.

It took her nearly a half hour to make it back up to her temporary apartment. She saw nothing but curious exocomps on her way up. No sign at all that Frigga was inhabited by anyone alive but her.

Even her apartment was cold, empty and dead. Maico washed the day away, then went to bed.

Two hours later, she woke to Kotono’s smiling face “Just checking!”

She fell back asleep.

Two more hours. “Just checking again,”

Maico cursed a thank you, then fell back asleep.

Another couple of hours, a light shone in her eyes, “Just making sure you haven’t died in your sleep,” She was in her pyjamas. Cow pyjamas.

“If I die in my sleep, I’ll die happy,” she slurred out

Kotono put on a pout, “And we’ll get the blame,”

Maico slept. She dreamt. The memory was dissolved by the light. “How’re you feeling?”

“Tired!”

“Good,”

Another two hours. “Hi!”

“Leave me alone!”

Kotono giggled. She was enjoying this. Maico made sure the door was locked before going to sleep for what she hoped was the final time.

She woke naturally an hour later, startled to find that she’d been sleeping for over half a day. According to the laptop, it was early morning Mars Standard Time. It was Friday.

And Ryan had spent the entire night trying to contact her. No wonder she’d been hearing chirping while she slept. She sent a message informing him that rumours she’d been murdered in her sleep had been greatly exaggerated.

Her head throbbed, like an echo of a hangover.

Slightly exaggerated.

The computer chirped while she was in the shower. She ran still dripping to it.

“So, give me the straight dope. What’ve they got? ”

She sat there in a towel, hurridly typing.

“I got the whole tour. Unfrtunately, without the photographs to back it up. I’ve met the Sabers and I’ve talked to them personally and...” she was starting to get excited as she typed.... “I’m at least beginning to understand why they chose to keep themselves a secret. They showed me their equipment, but didn’t give me any more than surface details “

“Did you get a supplier? Tell me you’re able to prove that they’ve got a Atalante Lancer. I need details Maico. The KSML’s going to bust a n organ or four when this starts leaking to them. They’re going to go batshit for it,”

“Alright. Alright. The short version is that anything ion Frigga that hasn’t been purchased is either old, designed to look old, or built so far behind the tech curve it’s born almost obsolete. They’re still using war-era equipment, chem-guns and even gasoline-powered un-waved cars. It is a BAT Lancer, but Ben told the truth. Those airframes were destroyed in a fire. Their KnightWing is a refitted structural test article.”

“And the hardsuits. Are they really trucks?”

“Trucks?”

“Peter’s built, Hah!

Maico slapped her forehead with her palms. Sure, he was probably laughing at his own private joke.

“Jet admits they were a joint project, but doesn’t say who with. She calls them a Shelby Cobra. A quick search makes the hint obvious. And Saber Pink specifically told me she hated being fitted for her hardsuit, she says she doesn’t like being around ‘mads’. “

“Bingo!..... It’s still frustratingly short of an actual confirmation, but the court of fen opinion should be able to weigh the evidence. I’m guessing Sylia Stingray is really Jet Jaguar somehow,”

“Yes. She uses a puppet, of all things. She can use it simultaneously, and fight in it.”

“Well shit. I don’t think anyone knew she could do that. We all assumed she was more on the human end of the scale. So, did she give her reasons for putting this together?”

“No. Jet was pretty happy to show me around her hardware, but when it came to actually questioning her. I guessed why and she just completely lost her temper. ”

It gave Maico chills to think about it. She scanned through her notes surrounding the moment.

“She didn’t threaten you did she? If she’s threatening you to keep quiet, I can have the Patrol on their way pretty quickly.”

“No. Not that. One moment, she was happy and cheerful, the next, she was yelling at me about how nothing was wrong with her. I’m still trying to make sense of what exactly happened. Her brother’s reaction seemed to pass it off as no big deal, nothing unusual and harmless. I’m still not certain if her reaction wasn’t just thunder and lightning to end the conversation before it got to painful. She didn’t attack me or threaten me directly.... she ran away from me.”

She felt herself sigh., closing her eyes.

“What’d you say to her?”

“I told her that i believed the Knight Sabers were a form of escapism for her. She might have been looking for some way to hide from her memories of the Boskone War. And if her reaction’s anything to go by, she’s hiding them from herself. Her brother told me she has nightmares, and she’s showing avoidant tendancies.”

She fetched her breakfast while waiting for a response.Another dizzy-spell caused her to sway on her feet as she stood up. A nice reminder that, 24 hours earlier she’d been sitting on a mercenary cruiser.. A reply was waiting when she got back.

“And she has a temper triggered by people asking about it. A person with a psych problem like hers is a tragedy, and a tragedy waiting to happen. All it would take is one singular moment, one loss of control.... and she’ll kill someone without even realising it without even trying. How often have you slapped someone on the spur of the moment? If she’s a danger and she isn’t getting help for it, then people deserve to know how dangerous she is.”

Maico finished her breakfast thinking it over.

“I also have to consider the effect it would have on her and those around her, that’s basic responsibility. Jet can handle the Knight Saber’s story coming out. She’d prefer if it didn’t, but she could still handle it, she’s planned for it. But I think she’s set her psychological stall out on the Sabers, and on what she’s doing here on Frigga. If I file some story about the Sabers being led by Jet, then about how deep her obsession is, moodswings and her temper.... If she has temper issues, and she doesn’t want Fenspace to know.... then I come along and tell all, and in that case I might blow her business out of the sky. I take the things away from her that she’s using to try heal herself. If I kick the crutch out from under her psyche, I might actually cause her to break.”

The response was quick enough to be prepared.

“You sound like a person with a pet Tiger, who refuses to believe it can harm them. There’ll be nothing left for her, but to get proper professional help. She’s a public figure, Maico. She’s quite happy to show you around when it suits her, to show the best part of herself.... she’s a BNF, and the Fen do deserve to know about her troubles. She can’t just partition off the things that might harm her reputation, and portray only the good parts of herself. She gave up that right when she decided to show herself and her work.... people deserve to know dangerous she really is. For their own safety.”

Maico fired back her response. “Ryan... I can’t believe your talking like this...”

The answer was equally quick.

“I can’t believe you’re willing to give up months of hard work and a massive payout.... and a rep boost... because you’re feeling sympathetic to someone who might be a genuine danger to other people.”

She set her jaw.

“It won’t do my rep any good throwing her to the wolves either. She’s respected. a lot of older fen won’t appreciate someone with her record having their character assassinated like that. You remember what happened to Brezhnak?”

“I still have most of our chat logs.” He warned her.

“That’s just hearsay. I can’t believe you’d be such a shit over this,”

“Hearsay enough that’ll be worth reputation. You’re not the only one giving me cookies for one thing. And another I can’t believe you’re allowing yourself to be manipulated Maico... *you’re smarter than that.* You’re being played. Step back, take a deep breath and you’ll see how much she’s manipulated you into feeling sympathetic for her.”

It was a possibility. She sat back from the keyboard giving herself a chance to cool off.

“Honestly. I think I’ve caught her trying to do that and it was so unsubtle, it was like getting hit in the face with a brick. If she was manipulating me, I’d know. ”

“I know, Miss Guileful Gertie herself. Nothing gets past you. The ultimate newshound with sharp eyes and a keen mind, who absolutely wouldn’t be fooled by Naoko Sato in an interview, right before she was revealed as a traitor.”

“That was a decade ago! She fooled Everybody!” Is there a way to send a hard smack through the interwave, she wondered? She followed up. “And anyway, it’s my story and my call. Not yours,”

“Are you going to reveal the Sabers then, at least?”

“I’m still thinking about it. They do have a compelling reason for their secrecy, based on actual experience. And frankly. Outside Jet herself, the defence systems here are pretty limited.”

“They bring that on themselves by not being part of a major faction. Half of Spacebattles says the same thing,”

A knock on the door sent a shock through her body. Someone started rattling at the doorhandle.

“GTG”

She slammed the laptop shut. The door swung open with a squawk from the hinges. Kotono snuck in, dressed in a jogger’s green tracksuit.

Maico coughed in her throat, crossing her arms across her chest.

“Oh, you’re awake,” said Kotono, putting on a cheerfully innocent expression.

Maico’s eyes with narrow, glaring her down. “Yes, I am. And I am not dead. And I am feeling a lot better.”

She resisted the urge to steady herself against the table as another dizzy spell took hold.

“Good, good,” Kotono chirped. “About last night... I had to make sure you hadn’t slipped into a coma, or something more serious

“I know.” Maico responded, in a cool, flat tone that didn’t quite mask her irritation. “It was a risk I was willing to take for a good night’s sleep.”

“We weren’t.” Kotono grinned back.

Maico fingered her own hair, wincing as she found the lump on the side of her skull where the extinguisher had struck.

“I appreciate that.” she said, being carefully polite. “I’m still a little tired.”

“Anyway, it’s Friday and that’s our day off here. Jet would like to speak with you about where you want to go.”

“Go?”

“Well, to avoid a repeat of the mercenary incident, we’re going to escort you to a settlement of your choice.” answered Kotono.

“Thank you,” Maico found herself. “Who, can I ask? The Knight Sabers?”

“Yes,” the green Saber confirmed. “But, we have prior commitments tomorrow so if you haven’t decided by then, you’ll have to make your own arrangements. Or take a lift to Crystal Hiroshima on the Wagon,”

“No,” the reporter shook her head, before fixing the taller woman with her gaze. “I know where I want to go,”

“Care to enlighten me,”

“Not right now,” Maico answered in a smooth voice, with a coy glimmer in her eyes. She crossed her legs, easing herself back into the comfort of the chair. It felt like the pettiest of petty revenge, but it still felt good.

“Fi~ine,” Kotono drawled out, pouting. “Just don’t take all day.”

Maico just nodded, giving her her queue to leave. When she was gone, and the door locked behind her, Maico carefully prised open the lid. A message was waiting for her.

“Still waiting....”

She typed.

“The Knight Sabers have offered to take me to a settlement of my choice, if I can leave today.”

“And where might you be going?”

She knew as soon as Kotono had told her. It was the safest option. It was the one that gave her the most leverage. It was the one that gave her the most personal options.

“I intend to ask them to take me to Stellvia,” she responded.

“Ooh, so you’re planning on going public with this?”

“I honestly haven’t decided yet, Ryan. I’m going to speak with Jet, one last time,”

Well. Maico chooses to go exactly where she'd feel safest. And where she can inform someone she's due on the quiet.... And some of what Ryan says needs to be adjusted. It's partially contradictory.

Unless someone disagrees with the destination....
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--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?