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“Wheels up!” Pike cried when all teams had been recalled and they were back on board the Silverfish. Surprising everyone except Pike, there were no dead privateers.
The pirate’s reliance on the Sasori proved their undoing as the modified armor admirably blunted the machines’ effectiveness. Virtually every piece of equipment wore the burnt scars of Sasori blades, but only a few mercenaries had their armor penetrated, and none fatally. The advance teams had gotten the worst of it. Twenty-six were hurt badly and a few were going to need new limbs, but none were expected to die.
At the other end of the ship, the Varsity Squad had mopped the decks with the pirate crew. Since all they had to do was secure the decks of one section and plant some charges, they had not been as exposed as the first team. Heavily armed and armored troops in a static gun battle with scared criminals was not the sort of thing that bards wrote poetry about. It had been a massacre.
When the last of the wounded were brought on board, and Bernadette had made a fighting retreat across the gangplank, the sappers blew the docking clamps and separated the two ships. One loud bang and a lurch later, the Kalashnikov began to drift away from the freighter.
“We are away,” the pilots confirmed, and Pike hit a button on his wrist terminal.
Cheers erupted across the Silverfish as a chain of explosions, soundless in the vacuum of space, walked a neat line around the center of the pirate craft at the halfway point. With its spine broken, the front and rear halves of the massive frigate began to twist and bend in opposite directions. Flashes of light and plumes of vapor erupted from the wounded vessel, and with a final dramatic explosion of fire and debris the sections tore free of each other. The halves spun in opposite directions, propelled by escaping gasses and secondary explosions that flared up from random locations across the surface of the derelict pirate ship.
“That’ll keep ‘em from shooting at us,” Pike announced to the crew and a cheer erupted again.
Roland stood on the command deck with Lucia, watching the burning hulks drift in lazy circles as the Silverfish pulled away. He looked down at her, still in her armor and standing with her arms crossed defensively over her chest. He put an immense hand on her shoulder, and realized for the thousandth time just how small she was. She had a way of appearing larger than she looked, larger even than he was sometimes. When her eyes flashed with anger or when she was taking charge of a tense negotiation, she could fill the room with her presence. This was not one of those times.
“Is this how it always is?” She asked obliquely, “Does it always feel like this?”
“Half sad, half happy?” he answered, “Numb and detached?”
“Yes,” she said quietly, staring out the window. “I don’t feel like I did a good thing in there, Roland. I don’t feel like one of the good guys.”
She sniffed, and a tear began to work a path down her cheek, “It wasn’t like killing Johnson. That man had hurt you so badly, killing him felt, I don’t know...” she fumbled, “... not good, but not bad either?”
“It felt right,” he supplied the answer for her, “It wasn’t a good thing you did, killing him. But it was the right thing to do.”
“Yeah, that’s it,” Lucia agreed, “But killing Laura didn’t feel right. She wasn’t evil, Roland. She was broken. People broke a little girl on purpose, and then she grew up to be a broken adult who hurt people because hurting was all she understood.”
Sobs began to shake Lucia’s body and Roland pulled her tighter. He did not speak because he had nothing to say and Lucia needed to work this out herself. He hated that part, but he had done it himself once and seen a hundred young soldiers do the same.
“And then I killed her. That wasn’t the right thing to do, was it? She needed help, but I didn’t help her. I didn’t fix anything. I just put her down because she was dangerous.”
“And she was,” Roland encouraged her. It was important that Lucia not forget that part.
“I tried not to kill her. I really did.”
“I know,” Roland whispered gently.
“She was so angry, Roland, and so sad. I hate what was done to her, and I hate what she was trying to do at the same time.” She stopped, as if a thing had just occurred to her, “But I can’t hate her anymore, can I, Roland?”
“You can, if you want to. But it won’t help,” He spoke from a deep well of experience.
“You were right, you know,” she added.
“Hmmmm?”
“There are no good guys and bad guys. They’re all just people,” she put her hand over his and squeezed it, “in varying shades of grey, I guess.”
“That’s about the size of it,” he agreed.
“Does it get easier?” she looked back at the burning pirate ship. Life boats were streaking away from both halves as what was left of its crew fled for safety. A hundred twinkling dots representing the lives of an entire community adrift in space.
“Do you want it to?” he answered a question with a question.
“I’m not sure,” her reply was honest. She really did not know the answer.
He turned her gently to look at her face, “Good. That means you are a normal, healthy, well-adjusted person. Everything you are feeling is exactly what you should be feeling. What a good person would feel. Of course, you want it to be easier because doing hard stuff sucks. But you also don’t want it to be easier, because some things are supposed to be hard. Supposed to hurt.”
“So, it never gets easier?” She wiped her eyes, “The killing, I mean?”
He never lied to her, “The killing does.” He remembered his first combat mission, and how hard it had been to come to grips with the violence of it all, “But seeing them die is always hard.”
“That shouldn’t make any sense, you know. But somehow... it does.” A small smile turned the corners of her mouth at the thought of it.
They both turned back to the window and watched the Kalashnikov shrink as they pulled away. In a few moments, Mindy found them there and joined them.
She had changed out of her blood-spattered jumpsuit and into military green shorts and tank top. The tank top was predictably inadequate for the task of preserving either modesty or dignity against the asinine proportions of the little assassin, but Roland refused to look in defiance of the ploy.
“Mack used to do that, too,” she laughed.
“Do what?” Roland asked.
“Not look at them,” Mindy answered sweetly, pointing ‘them’ directly at Roland, “he knew why I got ‘em and I think it bothered him how well the trick worked. It was like he was trying to defend the honor of his whole gender by ignoring them.”
“Jesus, Mindy,” Lucia gasped, “I can’t stop looking at the damn things. Poor Mack must have had an iron will.”
“He did,” Mindy agreed, “He was the best man I ever knew.”
They stood in silence for another long moment, then Lucia broke it.
“What will you do now?”
“I’ll probably stay Earthside for a while. This whole crime syndicate mash-up will probably mean a lot of high-paying work for someone like me,” she shrugged, “I go where the action is.”
“Please stay clear of Dockside,” Roland groaned, “We will have enough ‘action’ there without you carving people into little pieces all over the Drag.”
“No promises, Metal-butt. What about you two? Back to the old grind?”
“There is no more ‘old grind,’ ” the big man grumbled, “The Combine is going to collapse over this, and it will be all they can do to hold on to the other territories. Everyone will be gunning for the Dockside rackets. Keeping Gateways out is already going to be more work than I can do. Things will all be different when the dust settles.”
Lucia had that look in her eye. The look she got when an idea was brewing.
“Mindy,” she started, and suddenly Roland knew what she was going to say, he tried to stop her but he just didn’t get the chance, “What are your rates?”
Mindy raised an eyebrow, “For you, sweet-cheeks? Very competitive.”
“This is a terrible idea.” Roland already knew that Lucia had decided on it, and he knew that he would go along with it. But he was serious, this was not a good idea.
“Afraid I’ll steal your girl?” the little blonde needled.
“We don’t do assassinations, our work is more... uh” he couldn’t think of a good word, “nuanced.”
Lucia gave him a look that conveyed pure incredulity, “Did you or did you not assassinate Marko?”
She had him dead to rights on that one, and he knew where the conversation was going.
“Roland, in your whole life you have never, and I mean never, done anything ‘nuanced,’ ” She slapped him on the arm, “At one point, I was convinced that you had a pathological hatred of opening doors because I’d only ever seen you smash one or bully someone else into opening it for you. Nuanced? Sheesh!”
Mindy was trying to contain her laughter while Lucia continued to berate her giant partner, “Mindy has skills that we can use, and I’m sure she can be trained to not murder people we don’t want murdered. We are going to need extra manpower just to keep the streets from flooding with blood.”
“There’s McGinty,” Roland was really only trying to minimize the magnitude of his loss at this point.
“You know damn well we cannot afford to officially throw in with any faction. Using Big Woo muscle will only expand the conflict, not contain it. You know all this. Stop being obtuse just because Mindy’s tits make you self-conscious,” she blew the magenta stripe of hair away from her eye where it had fallen, “How can anyone as old and as big as you be such a child!”
Now Mindy was openly laughing. Several Privateers, overhearing the conversation, were chuckling as well. Mindy couldn’t resist making Roland twist some more, “She’s right you know, this is really about your issues with women in positions of power, isn’t it, Robo-dork?”
Roland threw up his hands, “Fine, then. You’re hired. Welcome to the team, Jugs. We start at 0630.”
“In the morning?” Mindy looked horrified, “Oh hell, no!”
“We’ll talk rates, hours, and business model when we get back to Dockside,” Lucia suggested, separating the two before they started fighting in earnest, “I have a meeting with Pike in thirty minutes and I could use a shower.”
“What are you meeting Pike about?” Roland was suddenly very suspicious.
“Business, Roland. Always business.” She pulled him down by the arm so she could plant a kiss on his cheek, “Go play with your soldier friends while I sort it all out. Try not to fight with Mindy.”
Mindy’s head popped up at the sound of her name, “Hitting the showers, are you? Sounds like a great idea! I’ll go too!” she tossed a wink at Roland to make sure he understood what she was implying.
“Go bother Bernadette, Mindy” Lucia fired back with an eye roll, “We have a zero-tolerance policy on sexual harassment in the workplace.”
“Uh... aren’t you two in violation of that policy then?”
“Frequently and enthusiastically,” Roland rumbled with far too much satisfaction.
Mindy stuck her tongue out at him, “Well ain’t you just the smug bastard, now?”
“Play nice, children,” Lucia called over her shoulder as she headed off for the showers.
Mindy and Roland were left staring at each other in silence. Mindy broke the spell with uncharacteristic sincerity, “Thank you, by the way.”
“You’re welcome,” he replied, “you really want to work with us?”
She nodded slowly, “You’ve got work, I’ve got skills. Makes sense. I won’t lie though, I’m not easy to work with.”
He nodded back, “Neither am I. This will be interesting, at least. Just do whatever Lucia tells you to. It’s how I manage.”
He heaved his shoulders in a shrug of surrender, “There are just a lot of rules to play by dirt-side. It’s not like out in the colonies, Mindy. It’s very different from what you are used to.”
“I’m flexible. It’s a survival skill.”
“Fair enough,” he paused before continuing, “Lucia is not like us, you know. She’s not...”
“...a killer?” Mindy finished for him, “I figured that out. Plus, I could hear you talking before I came up.” She pointed to her augmented ears, “My bust line isn’t the only thing I’ve improved on.”
Roland ignored that last bit, “I don’t want her to become one, either,” he added, “I can’t stop her from doing what she wants to do, but I will try to save her from what she might become. Know what I mean?”
“You really love her, huh?” Mindy whispered, “That’s so sweet. Ok, Cyber-jerk, I promise not to commit wholesale acts of wanton murder while on the clock and I promise not to encourage your girlfriend to become a femme fatale super assassin like me. Even though she’d be awesome at it.”
“I’ll hold you to that, Jugs. You’re not wrong that we are going to need the help, and you are damn handy in a fight. But yeah, I guess I’m just a little protective of her, is all. I need you to be as well, is what I’m saying, I guess.”
“Somebody your size should never look sheepish. It’s just... ridiculous,” she shuddered at the ludicrous sight, “also, I’ll start calling you ‘Roland’ if you stop calling me ‘Jugs.’”
“You started it,” he reminded her.
“I know, that was bitchy of me. Sorry.”
He held out a hand, “I think we have an understanding, Mindy. Sorry if I came off like an asshole. I’m working on that”
She tried to shake his hand, but the best she could manage was to grab his index finger, “And I’m sorry I was bitchy to you... and sorry for flirting with your girlfriend in front of you... and sorry for calling you names... oh yeah! I’m also sorry for telling all the Privateers that you were actually a food-service AI mounted to a sex-bot chassis.”
“Dammit, Mindy!” he started in, but she interrupted him.
“Roland!” she barked sharply.
“What?”
“My eyes are up here.”
“Don’t flatter yourself, runt,” he grumbled and stomped away.
“You totally looked!” she called to his retreating back.
“Go bother Bernadette, Mindy,” he sighed.
Mindy turned and skipped off to bother Bernadette.