The Privateer

Yvian hated waiting.

Waiting was a big part of space travel. The void was big, so big it was hard to imagine. Voidships were capable of speeds that would be absurd, maybe impossible, on a planet, and still a journey across just a few sectors could take weeks or months. The Captain's Jumpdrive brought that down to hours or days, which was why the things were so precious and expensive, but even then Yvian spent a lot of time waiting.

Of course, waiting to get somewhere was not the same as the wait she faced now. When they were traveling, Yvian had other things to do. She had training, meals to eat, and Space Captain to enjoy. It was hardly like waiting at all. It certainly wasn't like this.

The cake had been eaten. The beer had been drunk, though the Captain had cut them off after the first six. Lissa had stopped crying. Instead she stared at nothing, eyes sunk, shoulders clenched. The Captain had made several attempts to offer distraction or keep the girls busy, but he had been rebuffed. He sat next to Lissa, doing his best to radiate a steady calm.

Yvian knew the human didn't give a shit about Yasme Kiver. If anything, he'd be happy to kill her himself. He only cared because Lissa was upset, which was... surprisingly sweet. Yvian was so used to seeing him be cold and practical to other people that she forgot sometimes how caring he was towards her sister. And towards Yvian herself, she guessed.

As for Yvian, she was brooding. The plight of her former mother, her sister's distress, and the oppressive silence pressed down on her psyche. She was upset on Lissa's behalf, and she was fine with that, but Yvian also wanted Yasme to be saved. Seeing the woman in pain had hurt her. Yvian had burned with the need to come to her mother's rescue, even knowing Yasme wasn't her mother anymore. Even after all that the woman had done. To her. To her sister.

It ate at her. Yvian should be stronger than this. She hated Yasme. Yasme disgusted her. How could she still love such a vile thing? Scene after scene played out in Yvian's memory. Beatings. Burnings. Worse things. She'd carried the scars for years before they'd been erased in the Captain's medpod. She'd had panic attacks. Night terrors. She'd been afraid to be touched. Yvian liked to think she'd rebuilt herself when she finally got away, but she'd never be whole. She'd never be innocent. The physical scars were gone, but she'd carry the pain and the horror for the rest of her life. Why was she so desperate to save a monster?

Yvian hated waiting. It gave her too much time to think.

Time crawled. The three of them sat, mostly quiet. Aside from the occasional bathroom break, that was all they did. Sit. Quietly. Lissa was despondent. The Captain was concerned. Yvian was raging inside her own head. Everyone hurting, and everyone wishing what comfort they could to the others. After the second hour Lissa tried to comm Mr. Starlost for an update, but the Captain stopped her. He told her comming wouldn't help, and might distract the CEO at a critical moment. They would just have to wait. It was all they could do.

Yvian hated waiting.

Meal time came and went. No one was hungry. Bed time came and went. Everyone was tired, but no one considered going to sleep. After six hours, Mims and Lissa had a brief argument. Lissa insisted, and the Captain gave in. Lissa commed Mondi Starlost. Mr. Starlost did not answer.

It was nine hours, nearly ten, before the CEO commed back. He simply said, "We have her. Rendezvous at these coordinates. One hour."

"Thank you," Lissa replied. Mr. Starlost ended the transmission.

Yvian had hoped the news would bring happiness, or at least excitement. Lissa didn't really perk up. She just stood and shuffled towards the bridge. Mims took the controls. Yvian continued to brood as they passed out of the hollowed asteroid that contained their hideout.

The Jumpdrive took them to an unclaimed sector. Mims swung the Random Encounter around, hiding on the other side of the massive Gate. Hidden there, they waited.

Ten minutes later, a frigate came into view. It was fast, heavily armed, and devoid of corporate markings. IFF labeled the vessel the Dark Matter. Yvian tensed. Well. Tensed more. Mims just grunted and sent a brief transmission. He didn't speak, but instead sent a series of numbers and letters. The Dark Matter responded in kind. The Captain grunted. The Random Encounter moved to approach.

Yvian knew she was just being paranoid, but she couldn't shake the feeling they should keep their distance. The Encounter was a heavy fighter. Once they entered the Dark Matter's firing range, the ship could turn them into debris in seconds. A good look at the sensors made her even more nervous. The Dark Matter was packing Rapid Artillery Arrays, experimental Military tech. Yvian had seen what those things could do at the battle of Krog Prime. Their speed and range was far beyond standard weaponry. The Encounter was already in its reach. If the Dark Matter wanted them dead, even Mims wouldn't be fast enough to stop them.

The Dark Matter lowered its shields. Yvian let out a breath. Mims dropped the Enccounter's shields and programmed a docking sequence. He stood. "Alright," he said. "Let's go get your mom."

He stopped by the armory on the way. Yvian was handed a BFG14 Plasma Gatling Gun. Lissa took the other BFG, and the Captain strapped a nanocarbon katana to his hip. Each of them took a BR24 Assault Rifle and a small number of ion grenades.

"Do you really think we need all this," Lissa asked.

"Probably not," said the human. He checked his rifle over before he attached it to his armor. "But I'd rather have and not need it than the other way around."

The airlock opened. The Captain went through first. Yvian followed, and found herself facing half a dozen men in Military grade power armor. They had various guns and lethal implements strapped to them, but their hands were empty. In front of the men were a pair of wheelchairs. In one of the chairs was a flivvan. In the other was Yasme Kiver.

"Mom!" Heedless of the large armored strike team, Lissa dashed forward, removing her helmet. Yasme was... unusually still. She was missing an eye and most of her limbs, but she gave no indication that she was in pain or even aware of her surroundings. Her remaining eye stared blankly at nothing. Lissa noticed just before she went to fling her arms around her mother. She froze. "Wh... what?"

Mims removed his helmet, prompting Yvian to do the same. One of the strike team members stepped forward. He did not speak, but he tapped his wrist console. A holographic projection of a brilend in a fancy suit appeared. Yvian recognized him. Mondi Starlost, CEO of Venturetech Incorporated.

"I am sorry, Ms. Kiver," the projection said. "Your mother had already been implanted. We believe it was done before they contacted you."

Implanted. Yvian felt her face twist up in horror. Yasme was a slave. Slave implants were the most sophisticated body modification the Confederation had developed, and the most evil. The implants took over the victim's brain, and the body was controlled by a limited artificial intelligence. The intelligence had access to the victim's skills and memories, but maintained total control over the victim. The process could not be reversed.

"Implanted?" Lissa's eyes welled with tears. "No..."

"It's not uncommon in corporate espionage," Mr. Starlost continued. "Her abductor never intended to return her to you."

"No!" Lissa snapped. "You said you'd bring her back! You promised!"

"I know, Lissa," Starlost softly spoke. "I'm sorry. We've done what we can." His face hardened. "And the people responsible will pay the price." The projection pointed at the flivvan in the chair. "Starting with him."

Yvian tore her eyes away from her former mother, glaring at the man in the chair. The flivvan looked young, but there was a cruel weight to his gaze that made her think he was much older. Rejuvenation, most likely. He was dressed in the flivvan equivalent of a business suit, a flowing robe of some silky green material. Yvian was no expert on fashion, but it looked expensive. The flivvan was short and portly, and his orange fur had been immaculately groomed. A gag with a sound dampener kept him from speaking, but he glared murder at everyone in his sight. His wrists and ankles were strapped to the chair with metal bands.

"This," the CEO continued, "is Malvan Evlo Unatco, Vice President of Acquisitions at Unatco Incorporated. He is the man you spoke to on the comms. He is the one who engineered your mother's abduction."

Yvian grimaced, reaching for her blaster. Lissa was faster. "You motherless son!" Her fist snapped the flivvan's head to the side. Yvian thought she'd killed the man for a moment, but Lissa had decided not to use her armor's strength enhancements.

Lissa hit him again. She stepped back. She pointed at one of the armored men. "Take off the gag."

The armored man looked at Mims. The Captain nodded. "Remove it, please." The man removed the flivvan's sound dampener.

"You stupid whore," Malvan spat. "Do you know who I am?" He turned to glare at Mondi's projection. "You should know better, Mondi. This is an act of war. And for what?" The man dripped with contempt. "A fucking pixen?"

"A pixen?" Mr. Starlost folded his arms. "Did you really not know?" The flivvan registered confusion. Mondi pointed at Mims. "Do you know who that is?"

"The whore's pet human?" Malvan considered the Captain. "Who gives a shit? A mere pilot's no threat to the likes of us."

"There is no the likes of us," Mondi's voice was cold. "I am a professional. You are a dumb brute who couldn't be bothered to do his due diligence. That human," Mondi pointed again, "is the owner of Venturetech Incorporated."

Malvan snorted. "Gribshit. He's not even a citizen."

"Oh, he is," Mr. Starlost corrected. He frowned. "I'm not fond of the man, but the simple fact is he founded the company. He is the sole owner." His face shifted back into cold arrogance. "And you abducted his girlfriend's mother and injected her with slavery implants. You were correct, earlier." His eyes bored into the flivvan. "This is an act of war."

For the first time, Malvan looked genuinely frightened. "That's not... I didn't know!"

"You should have," the CEO told him. He gestured, and one of the other strike team members activated a wrist console, showing a series of holograms to the flivvan. "Your bloodline has been ended. Venturetech deals harshly with espionage in general, but targeting the owner..." He tsked. "It's not really a spoken rule, but you of all people should know the upper echelons are not to be targeted in such a way."

Malvan pulled himself together with a sneer. "Come on, Mondi. You know-"

The rest of his sentence was cut off. Lissa had run out of patience. Her blaster burned a hole through the flivvan's foot. He screamed.

"You took my mother," she told him. She shot the other foot. He screamed again. "You tortured her." Yvian had never seen Lissa this cold. She shot his left shin. Her voice carried the fury of the void, frigid and lethal and devoid of mercy. "You made her a slave."

Lissa continued to work her way up the screaming flivvan. Right shin. Left knee. Yvian knew she would just keep shooting the man. She didn't want to kill him. She wanted to make him suffer. "How does it feel?" she asked him. She blasted his other knee.

Yvian shot Malvan in the face. He slumped. Lissa turned to her, shocked. Yvian held her gaze, voice steady. "That's not what we do, Sis." Lissa might have been furious in the moment, but Yvian knew. Torturing that flivvan would haunt her. The longer Yvian allowed it to happen, the worse it would have been. She shot Malvan twice more in the chest. "That's not what we do."

"You..." Lissa grimaced, forcing herself to get back under control. She dialed herself down from murderous fury to barely contained rage. "He was mine."

"I know," Yvian apologized, "but we've got bigger issues." She nodded towards Yasme Kiver.

Yasme hadn't moved, of course. She still continued to stare blankly at nothing in particular.

"Malvan is dead," Mr. Starlost cut in. "His wife and children are dead." His projection turned to Mims. "His father is the CEO and majority shareholder. Do you want me to see to him as well?" He frowned. "It will take some time. He is well protected."

Mims considered. "Do you think he was involved?"

"I doubt it," said the CEO. "Mr. Unatco, at least, should be aware of who you are. Please be aware that what we have already done may spark a war between our corporations. Further retaliation will ensure it."

The human shook his head. "No. It's not worth it."

"What about the others?" Lissa asked. "The people who... worked for Malvan?"

"They are quite dead," Mr. Starlost assured her. "Mercifully so." He shifted, letting out a small sigh. "Executives give the orders, but the people who do the dirty work are always slaves. An implanted soldier won't balk, no matter what it is they're told to do."

Yvian's eyes widened. "Does that mean?" One of the strike team members looked at her. He shook his head slightly.

"No," said Starlost. "There are no slaves at Venturetech." He frowned. "I disagreed with the policy at first, but time has proven Mr. Mims correct. Slaves are expensive, limited, and rarely last more than a few years. Well compensated employees are more creative and more effective." The projection looked at his wrist console. "I'm sorry to cut this short, but I do have other issues to address, today. Is there anything else?"

Mims looked at Lissa, then Yvian. "No. Thanks, Mon..." He coughed. "Thank you, Mr. Starlost. You did good work today."

The CEO raised one eyebrow in surprise. Then he nodded. "I always do." The projection turned to Lissa. "My deepest condolences, Ms. Kiver. If you need anything, anything at all, don't hesitate to comm." He gestured at Mims. "And keep your eye on this one. You seem to be a good influence." He pressed a button on his wrist. The projection disappeared.

Lissa turned to her mother. "Mom." She started to cry again. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry this happened. I would've..." She sniffed. "I tried to..." She covered her face in her hands. "I'm so sorry."

She cried for just under half a minute. Then she looked up. "I'm so sorry." She drew her blaster. "Close your eyes."

Yasme Kiver didn't move. She continued to stare at nothing in particular. One of the armored men stepped forward, holding out an object. A control rod. Lissa took it, thanking the man. She said again, "Close your eyes, mother."

Yasme Kiver closed her eye. Lissa drew her blaster.

"Wait," said Yvian. She put a hand on her sister's gun. "Let me."

Lissa stared for a moment. She looked at her mother again. Yasme sat, eye closed, face blank. She shook her head. "No." Her voice cracked, but her expression was firm. "She's my mother. It should be me."

"Why are you two arguing?" Mims cut in. "One of you push the chair so we can get Yasme to the medbay."

Yvian blinked. "What?"

"Seriously," said the Captain. "Hurry it up." He gestured at Yasme. "She can't express it, but she's probably in a lot of pain of right now."

"But..." Lissa's face scrunched. "She's implanted."

"And?"

"There's no way to remove slave implants."

"There's no way to remove the implants here," Mims corrected.

"The Federation?" Yvian's brow furrowed. She'd known they were advanced, but she hadn't known the humans could do the impossible.

"No. The Federation can't remove them without killing the host, either." The Captain put his hands on his hip. "But they're not the most advanced species we know, are they?"

Lissa's eyes went wide. Before she could say it, the Captain said. "That's enough talk. Grab your mother and let's let these men get back to their business." He looked at what Yvian guessed was the leader of the strike team. "Thank you. Good work today."

The team leader gave a nod. Lissa wheeled Yasme off the frigate. On their way to the med bay, Yvian tried to ask a question. The Captain shushed her. They placed Yasem Kiver in a med pod. On their way back to the bridge, Yvian tried again.

"Do you really think the Xill will help us?"

Mims grimaced. "They might, if we can come up with something Exodus needs." He scratched the back of his head. "That's a last resort, though. I was thinking we'd ask the Oluken, first."

"The who?" Yvian felt like she'd heard the name before, but she couldn't quite remember where.

"The Oluken," Mims repeated. "They're the species that build the medpods we use. The most medically advanced species in the verse, far as I know." Mims reached his console and sat down. He undocked the Random Encounter. "Venturetech has contracts with them. Mondi can get us in touch, if Lissa asks nicely." He yawned. "But that's a problem for tomorrow. You two get some sleep. I'll get us back to the hideout."