Mytus VII
Star's End - Inside the facility
Kaneda followed Jarell's lead, carefully. Their footsteps echoed upon the metal floor as they passed through what seemed like corridor after corridor. Each one virtually identical to the last, only stopping every so often to open a door to a more secure area.
The two men walked in silence, Jarell was nervous, and although there were places he could take the intruder and probably lose him, he'd already decided it wasn't worth the risk. He spoke, in an effort to break the silence...
"...this,
friend, he or she must be important to have friends like you..."
Kaneda, gripped tighter onto his blaster, and didn't answer, Jarell continued unfazed...
"...especially since it appears the CSA doesn't like him much..."
Kaneda frowned slightly...
"..what makes you say that?..."
Jarell glanced behind him at the Vinda-Corp spy...
"..c'mon, he wouldn't be in here otherwise...besides this is where the CSA keeps those, who .... (he paused as if realising what he was saying)...
....have a temporary shelf-life..."
Kaneda replied, being deliberately vague...
"...what do you mean?..."
Jarell laughed, albeit nervously...
"...you expect me to believe you came all this way to not know?...give me some credit!, even I know Sector-11 is where they keep those who are scheduled for...
(his voice lowered)
...termination..."
Narrowing his eyes a little at the Espo, Kaneda responded..
"..you talk too much..."
The two stopped outside a sealed entrance, as Jarell swiped an ID-Card to open a secured door, he glanced to a sign above it...
"..this is it, sector 11..."
As the two men walked in, they entered a huge, dimly-lit room, with rows and rows of stasis containment units, all positioned upright. Kaneda blinked for a moment, a little in awe at just how many people the CSA had wanted to make...disappear.
...we knew they'd been busy , but... this is ridiculous...
Jarell had already started to find the particular unit they were looking for, clutching a data-pad he scrolled through the "inventory"...
"..Aha!...over here.."
Kaneda followed, still looking around...
"..here he...oh!...."
Jarell paused as he wiped a thin layer of condensation away from the small Plex window , and peered through at the being contained inside it...
"..he appears to be...a ...she?...you sure this is the right one?"
He glanced back to Kaneda, who had stopped by his side, casting the Espo an annoyed glance, as he tried to observe the face in front of him...
...Plex is too frosted, difficult to tell...only one way to find out for sure...
He nodded towards Jarell...
"..yes, open it..."
Jarell froze...
"...me?.. I'm just a security guard...I don't know how..."
Kaneda looked at him deadly serious..
"..then take your best guess...and you had better guess well, for if
she dies,
you die..."
Jarell frowned at this unwelcome news, and scratched his head as he studied the control-pad at the side of the unit. A faint constant beep sounded from the unit, perhaps the only sign that whoever was contained inside it was indeed still alive. In fact the whole room had a low hum resonating within it, all eminating from the various stasis units active inside.
"..ah! wait a minute!, the R2 units are programmed to do it!.."
Before Kaneda could react, Jarell hit a switch on the wall, causing a short shrill alert to sound . Concerned, Kaneda swung around to see a maintainence hatch open and an R2 unit moving swiftly towards them, beeping its greetings.
Scowling slightly at Jarell, Kaneda moved aside as Jarell instructed the droid to open the unit.
As it obliged, and connected via a scomp access, the slow constant beep from the stasis unit started to quicken, and the low-pitched hum , became louder.
Unsure, Kaneda threw the Espo a furtive look, Jarell, who had taken a few steps away , threw one back...
Gradually the sound grew louder until it reached a noisy cresendo, and stopped, rather abruptly. With another twist of the scomp terminal, the R2 unit opened the stasis booth causing the door of the unit to open upwards, and the preoccupant inside it to literally fall out.
Moving swiftly to catch her, both men instinctively reached out with their arms, Kaneda being successful, struggled awkwardly to gain a better grip and laid her carefully upon the floor.
"...is she alive?..."
Asked Jarell worriedly, who appeared to be genuinely concerned, whether for her welfare or his , wasn't clear.
Crouching down closer to her , Kaneda could just make out the rise of her body as she breathed.
"..yes.."
Kaneda took a moment to take in the young woman before him, she appeared to be in either her late teens or her early twenties. As he gingerly moved her dark hair from aside her face, he froze, as a sudden realisation dawned....
....I know you!...
Within moments his mind flashed back six months ago...
..to when he had last been on Brentaal....
(Excerpt taken from ; "The Quiet before the storm" )
Kaneda smirked a little and carried on…
“..I need a name…”
The Chiss glanced down at the wad of Credits Kaneda was still holding, then scratched his chin in a fake gesture…
“..y’know I can’t seem to remember…”
Rolling his eyes Kaneda slid the rest over to the Chiss..
“..this help?..”
Snatching the wad of credits up, the Chiss nodded , smiling broadly..
“..you, know funnily enough, it just came to me…his name’s…”
Kaneda expectant look rapidly changed to a look of concern as the Chiss stopped abruptly, gurgled slightly, and slumped across the table, revealing two small darts embedded in his back, oozing blood… launching himself up from his chair, Kaneda shook him to see if he was still alive, and glanced around the Bar, searching for the unseen assailant..
A slender figure of a woman pushing her way through the crowd caught Kaneda’s sight, as he stepped forward to follow, the figure glanced back and started to quicken her pace…
..gotcha…
Quickly making his way through the crowd to give chase, she broke into a run, barging a waitress into a wall, knocking the tray the waitress was carrying onto the floor. Deftly the fleeing attacker narrowly avoided tripping over it, as she slammed against the control pad for the door, and ran through it faster than the doors could fully open.
Kaneda , made short work of the bar too, but his path was blocked by an extremely large burly looking alien, who wasn’t too happy at the fact his pint of Correllian Ale had been spilt all over him. He Gabbled angrily towards Kaneda in a language even he couldn’t understand.
As he watched the woman slip out of the bar, he yelled at the giant creature out of sheer frustration …
“..get out of the Damn way ya great oversized Bantha!…”
Obviously taking this comment far too seriously, the alien gave Kaneda a practical demonstration , that he could indeed speak basic. Picking him up by the scruff of the neck he threw him across the bar, Drinks and glasses flew in all directions, as well as his various flaying limbs, before he found himself on the floor, in a middle of a Bar-brawl.
As he glanced around, he caught sight of the Bar-keep hiding alongside him, crouching behind the bar, he cut Kaneda a considerably unimpressed look, and spoke with a thick Brentaalian accent..
“..you’re not from around here are you?…”
Kaneda shot him a cold stare that could cut through solid diamond , and after deciding it was probably best not to answer that question Picked up his hat, and his cane and hopped over the Bar. As he landed, he ducked quickly , only just avoiding a glass that seemed to be heading straight for his head. Taking it as his cue for a quick exit , Kaneda followed in the direction of the woman..
Darting out into the soaked street outside, he glanced quickly in both directions, in the vein hope of catching whichever direction the female assailant had escaped in, but to no avail..
Kaneda sighed and frowned, he was confused now more than ever, he had hoped finding this girl would answer a lot of questions.... as it is, she appeared to only offer more...
...this is Vinda's daughter?...what the frell was she doing on Brentaal!?
His thoughts were interrupted , as the young woman 's body seemed to tense, taking in a deep breath she screamed aggressively and lashed out with her arms...
Caught off guard by her speed, Kaneda fell back, dropping his blaster in the process as she struck him across the face. Clearly disorientated, and scared, she shouted...
"...GET AWAY FROM ME!..."
As she attempted to stand up, she fell down , her legs, as yet, too weak for her to use, and she gasped in frustration...
Jarell, unsure of what exactly to make of all this, simply remained silent, until noticing the blaster on the floor, and instinctively stepped forward , and crouched down to pick it up.
He froze instantly, as he became aware of the unmistakable feeling of cold metal pressed hard up against his throat, a razor sharp edge grazing it slightly...
"...I wouldn't , if I were you..."
Turning to follow the long shaft of glinting metal towards its owner, he met the stern gaze of the Vinda-Corp operative.
He slowly threw the blaster back to Kaneda, who in return, took his blade silently away from the Espo's throat, and sheathed it back into his walking cane, not removing his gaze for a moment.
"...
don't do that again..."
As Jarell nodded, Kaneda turned his attention back to the girl
who appeared to be shivering, and glancing around the room as if trying to find her bearings...
"...I...I can't see!..."
Kaneda knelt down beside her, and replied softly, whilst nursing his sore chin...
"...its a side effect of the hibernation process, your sight should return in time...
....thats quite a punch you have there
Natalya..."
At the mention of her name, the woman swung around to face the direction of the voice, she reached out with her hands , as if tracing the contours of Kaneda's face...
"...Andersan?..."
Her voice was strained, hoarse, and frightened. Kaneda shook his head , and responded...
"...no, my name is Kaneda, I am a ...friend of your fathers.."
Her face screwed up in confusion as she stammered a reply..
"..m...my father is here?..."
"..no.."
As she opened her mouth to speak, Kaneda placed a finger upon her lips....
"...enough questions for the moment, I shall try to answer all I can, but now is not the time, we must go...can you walk?..."
"..I ...I think so..."
Kaneda stood up slowly and placed her arm across his shoulders , helping her to stand, as she attempted to put her weight upon them, they seemed to wobble slightly , causing Kaneda to shake his head.
"..you'll have to lean on me..."
"..I'm cold.."
(She returned, matter of factly), and Kaneda could physically feel her shiver. Glancing down at the all in one loose fitting , almost clinical prison gown they had trussed her up in, he turned to face Jarell...
"...you have any spare uniforms?..."
Scratching the back of his neck, Jarell spoke...
"...uh...I think so..."
Gesturing for Kaneda to follow, he opened the door...
"..this way..."
