Vengance

Disclaimer: The characters and concepts are mine, some characters have traits drawn from people I know and any resemblance that this has to another work is not intentional.

Note: Right now I am having writers block on my main story, well not quite writers block, I have rewritten the same chapter five times and it still does not feel write (bad pun there I know). http://hp.adult-fanfiction.org/story.php?no=600016061

This is part of a project that I began with a dearly departed friend year ago, I was home from college for the weekend and found all of our old notes and story ideas for this epic sci-fi series we were writing about a group of students from a charter school who have been conscripted to fight in an intergalactic war, put on an outdated star cruiser and forced to fight not only against an rebellion happening in the galactic empire but also against an extra galactic invasion force known only as the Ricward. Out of respect for my friend I will now be writing out one of the plot points that we had about the student who was designated as the Science Officer of the cruiser, a normally cheerful and easy to get along with person at his darkest moment

Also anything within brackets will denote a flashback




Getting slowly to my feet I set down the recently drained shot glass and smirk across the table to my drinking companions for the evening. “Well boys I am sorry to say that I need to get back to my lab and to my work.” I sway a little bit, feeling light headed from the nine shots I had downed in the last three hours.

“Oh come on man.” Paco groaned lazily. “You never take any god dammed time off from your lab work, we have been deep inside the borders of the safe zone for almost two weeks, far away from any danger or duty and this is the first time you have joined us to get tanked.”

“Yea man.” Mason joined in with a drunken laugh, his face broken by a wide grin. “I mean I know that you haven’t been the same since Crystal…” He was cut off by a grunt of pain as Paco slammed his foot down onto his own under the table, trying to stop Mason from bringing up a very sore subject. I don’t hold the stupidity against Mason, he had been drinking a lot more then either Paco or myself and he never been very good at thinking before he spoke, but I do appreciate Paco’s attempt to keep that subject from being mentioned, Crystal had been the love of my life and I had not taken her death well.

“What he means is that we miss you and are glad that you took some time to have some fun with us.” He smiled gently at me. “If you need to get back to work you do that but don’t make us wait to long to do this again.”

I chuckle a little bit and grin wide as I dig a small aerosol injection gun out of my lab coat and push it into the side of my neck before pressing the activation button. There is a small hiss and the skin of my neck tingles before I feel immediately sober.

“What the fuck was that?” Mason inquired as he tried very hard to focus on the injector.

“Just a sobriety serum that I have been spending some time developing.” I explain. “Will have it ready for distribution to the crew in a few days… guess all that time I spend working in my lab really pays off.” That comment earned a decent laugh from my friends as I turn and walk out of the bar, one of the only rooms on the ship dedicated to recreation and the only one where you could get half decent booze when you were off duty.

Moving at a rapid pace I make my way through the corridors and up a lift toward my lab, I want to get there without running into the Captain because I know he will want to talk to me… to bad the moment the door to the lift opens, less then twenty feet from the entrance to my lab he is right there, waiting for me, standing directly between me and my sanctuary. Oh well, no way to avoid him now.

“Joe,” He greets me with a smile, approaching me with his arms extended to embrace me, their metal gleaming in the bright light of the corridor. He had lost both arms at the shoulders in an explosion nearly a year before, superheated shrapnel from a plasma blast had destroyed the tissue to much for flesh and blood replacements to be grafted to him so I had build him some rather elegant cybernetic arms that could simulate tactile sensations even more sensitive then natural ones… and also gave him the strength to rip a man in half, any man but me that is because when I built them I had made sure I put in a fail safe, a simple phrase that would disable the arms and deliver a disabling shock to him if I even said them, he didn’t know that though and I would only be able to get away with using that fail safe once.

“Hey Matt.” I say as I step forward and quickly embrace him, years ago before we had been conscripted by the Galactic Empire to fight in their war he had been one of my best friends, he still was, but he was also my commanding officer and he had made it clear many times before that he was an officer first and my friend second. “Let me guess, making sure I am on my pills?” My tone is more harsh and sarcastic then I had intended.

“Look Joe.” He muttered, not meeting my eyes as he took a step back from me, clearly he didn’t know how to handle this. “You know that I am only asking you for your own good, no one wants you to have another incident.”

Now I mean to be harsh, he had made me angry. “You mean you don’t want me to have a nervous breakdown and run off again only for you to track me down.” Unbidden the memory of that day returns to me.

[I was sitting in a cantina on some insignificant dirtball of a planet, to insignificant for any side of that cluster fuck of a war to care about and therefore it was safe. It was maybe a month after Crystal’s death, three weeks since I had tracked down her killer, James, and put him down like the animal he was. I had been there for about two weeks, spending the time drinking an amazing amount and trying to forget what had happened to me since the day I woken up on that god forsaken cruiser.

I stared down at my empty bottle, trying to refill it through force of will power so I wouldn’t have to get up and buy another with my stolen creds, on that planet any money was good, including imperial credits. I really hadn’t put together a plan before I had run, just decided to steal a shuttle and run until I found a planet with no rebels, no imperials, and no fucking Ricward to bother me, after that I would use a large amount of stolen credits to live in comfort for the rest of my drug and alcohol filled life. But there was one major snag, the Imperials had not wanted to let me go.

“I knew they would send you.” I muttered, not looking up from the empty bottle as I heard someone slide into the chair on the other side of the table, it was Matt, of course it was Matt, he had probably volunteered for this job to make sure that I wouldn’t be hurt during my retrieval, and I knew that he wouldn’t be alone… at least two SA (Security and Assault) would be in here with him and probably twice that many waiting outside, after all I had been smart before but when I had been conscripted and picked as Science officer because of my inquisitive mind I had been made even smarter, a level twelve intellect to be exact (the highest intellect ever recorded had been a level thirteen) and that type of brain power made even the most physically frail person extremely dangerous, already my brain was hard at work trying to figure out all the variables and how I could get away again.

“Don’t try to run Joe.” Matt said in a calm but firm voice. “I know you and right now you are trying to think of a way out of this, hell you probably are working on four ways out of this… but you won’t be able to, running will only get you hurt.”

I had laughed a little bit. “Right, like I have to worry about being taken down by standard retrieval tactics.” I looked up at him for the first time, meeting his cold stare with an arrogant smirk. “Did you forget that I helped you plan for a situation just like this one… I have no doubt that if I were to turn around and look to my right I would see Vinnie and to my left would be Nasser, both of them lightly armed and in disguise, surrounding the building are four others, better armed but still instructed to make sure that I am not hurt. You can’t bring me in with my own tactics.” I wasn’t worried in the least, I had no reason to be, after all any plan I had put together I could take down even if I had just been on a two week bender.

The expression on Matt’s face hadn’t changed at all as I went on my little egotistical rant, still utterly calm and collected. “To bad I deviated from the plan, added a variable or two.”

For a moment my smirk had vanished, doubt had entered my mind but I quickly squelched it, he wanted me to second guess myself and come along easily. “I call your bluff.” I sneered at him. “Now watch me leave.” I stood up and… well I tried to stand up but my legs didn’t work… and neither would my arms.

“Normally the tactic for retrieval involves apprehending the fugitive immediately upon arrival.” Matt said, now a small smile was on his face, he had won and we both new it. “However you are an exceptional case so we arrived yesterday and paid the owner of this fine establishment a large sum of money to make sure that you got a bottle of booze that contained a slow acting nerve agent that would immobilize your, the dosage was carefully calculated so that it wouldn’t take full affect until you had finished the entire bottle.” He leaned in closer to me then, I wanted to punch him in the face, to break his nose and knock out some teeth but I couldn’t do anything but listen as he whispered. “I managed to talk the Imperial commanders into letting you off without any punishment because of your excellent record as a member of my crew.” His voice changed from calm to almost pleading now, he really wanted me to know that he was trying to help me, to do what was best. “Please Joe, we need you, I can’t even begin to imagine how hard it was for you to lose Crystal…”

“Don’t you dare speak her name!” I had hissed at him. “Your right, you can’t begin to imagine… remember when we retrieved James, how I had recommended he be put in a holding cell until we knew what had happened to him but you are the one who called me paranoid.” My voice was cracking with anger by this point and if I could move my arms my hands would have been wrapped around his throat at that moment. “That monster murdered her but her blood is on your hands to.”]

I blinked my eyes and I was back in the corridor, Matt looking a little bit concerned. Really I regretted what I had said to him that day, I was drunk and bitter at the time. “Sorry,” I murmur, feeling embarrassed because of the odd look he was giving me, “I kind of spaced out there for a moment.”

He nods slowly but is obviously worried. “Just thought I would say hi… and make sure you are taking your pills.”

Like I didn’t know that is why he was there, I hated the mood stabilizers that I was forced to take, I couldn’t think when I was on them. “Was right about to.” I say with a smile as I pull the bottle from my lab coat and pop one of the pills into my mouth and swallow it dry. “You know I can’t think right when I am on them.”

“I would rather wait for your next brilliant idea then have you run off on us again.” Matt said, his eyes narrowing now because he was no doubt wondering if I was going to swear off the pills.

“Whatever you say.” I roll my eyes and push past him to get to my lab but am stopped short by one of his heavy metal hands dropping onto my right shoulder, for a moment I think of saying the phrase that would shut him down for a few minutes, just to teach him a lesson.

His voice is heavy with emotions as he speaks, it sounds as though he is on the verge of breaking down and crying. “Joe,” he whispers, “you know that Crystal was like a sister to me. I know you don’t like people to talk about her but I don’t think it is healthy to just avoid talking about her.”

I bite back a dozen things I could say to him, three which would probably push him to take his own life, being cruel wouldn’t help anything and I had already forgiven him for his involuntary role in Crystal’s death. “I’m fine Matt.” I smile and turn to look him in the eye. “Now I have some work to get back to.”

Releasing my shoulder he nods and turns, walking away rather quickly while I move to the door of my lab and with the rapidly entered code and finger print scan I am in. “Hey Lennie.” I greet the massive gorilla like robot crouched by the door, I had built him myself, it’s name coming from a character in Steinbeck’s book OF MICE AND MEN, it’s a pretty fitting name because Lennie is incredibly powerful but due to it’s rather limited artificial intelligence it is almost useless as anything more then a body guard or security for my lab. “Go into sleep mode Lennie.” I command, causing the green lights of its ‘eyes’ to dim. I can’t risk the work I am about to do being recorded by anything, even a robot as eternally loyal as Lennie.

Slowly I cross the room to the wall on the far side, my fingers poking and probing for a moment until I find the hidden catch, a small needle jabs out to take a sample of my DNA before a panel slides open on the wall, revealing a small room, my hidden lab where I can do the two things which no one can ever learn about because I know how they would react, they would call me a mad man, say that I am sick… perhaps I am, you see in this room I am attempting to do what is supposed to be impossible, I am trying to resurrect Crystal. Everyone else thinks that she had been cremated after death but that is untrue, they cremated a fake, a synthetic corpse made to look just like her while I took her real body into this room and repaired the damage to her body. Now that alone wouldn’t be enough to bring anyone back to life… but she is a very special case, Crystal is a psychic. Not a psychic like you read about in comic books who can mess with people heads and read all of their innermost thoughts, human psychics which occur in less then .01% of the population are not quite that powerful, instead they are able to connect their mind with that of another persons and communicate with them through telepathic conversation. But ever since Crystals death I have been hearing her thoughts in my head, I have not told anyone this because they wouldn’t believe me, how could anyone believe that a moment before death she transferred her consciousness into my head, that she cheated death by living in me and I am trying to put her back in her body…

But that is not what I am up to today, I am in this room for my favorite… well recreational activity. I sneer up at the unconscious body hanging on the wall, its arms and legs immobilized by arcs of green energy while an intravenous tube fed into its arm, giving the body nutrients so it wouldn’t starve to death, however I made sure that it was just enough to prevent that, still even on the bare minimum his massive seven foot tall frame was packed with solid muscle. Everyone thought he was dead, I told them I had killed him and disposed of his body… but James was alive, and I was making sure he would suffer every day of his life for what he had done.

…to be continued