Robert scoffed. He grabbed the bottle with his other hand and pulled away, taking a long gulp. He slammed the empty bottle on the bar. “Any idea when that might be? How long has it been since I struck that bargain? Two, three months? And not one ship yet?” He drank again. “Then, if I succeed, I’ve delivered them straight into this hell.”
Boomer’s face was sad. She seemed to want to say something, and could not find the words.
“Perhaps, it would be kinder to just space them.” He turned back to Boomer. “And it certainly would’ve been kinder if you had just spaced me.”
Boomer put her hand on top of Robert’s again. “Robert, I…”
Robert was becoming increasingly unsteady. The effects of the alcohol hit him in larger and larger waves. He looked down at the bar. “I gave him everything. That ambitious little bastard betrayed me. He took everything important to me… And now, I clean shite from the belly of this beast.”
He reached for the bottle, forgetting it was empty. He scowled at it, dropping it to the bar. It rolled off and shattered on the floor. Robert grabbed another bottle. He slumped back onto his barstool, fumbling with the cap. His hands felt heavy and clumsy. Boomer snatched the bottle from his hand and set it out of his reach.
The sound of breaking glass made Billy look over from across the bar. He looked as though he were about to stand, then thought better of it.
“Dammit, Robert. This isn’t helping anything. Look, I’ve been where you are…”
Robert stood, swaying. “Fine, be that way. I have a bottle in my room,” he slurred, stumbling towards the door.
He paused almost at the door to regain equilibrium. When Robert tried to step through the door, he lurched forward. The door slid open and Robert would have landed on his face. Instead, his outstretched hands thumped hard on Digg’s chest. The striker grunted from the drunken push, then shoved Robert back hard. Digg stepped in the galley with Hack, and Bob. They all faced Robert.
Robert scowled at Digg. “Well looky here. It’s the big man I planted on his arse.”
Digg balled up his fists and took a step forward. Hack and Bob chuckled darkly.
Robert pushed out his chest. His knuckles went white his fists were clenched so tightly. He took a step towards Digg. “Come on then, I haven’t all day.”
Boomer jumped off her barstool. She put her hand up. “No! Digg, wait. He’s drunk.”
Robert never heard Boomer. A solid right hand to his left cheek sent him flying. The drunk landed with a limp slap against the tile floor.
Digg moved swiftly towards Robert. Boomer jumped in front of him with her hands up. “Stop!”
The big man stopped dead in his tracks and looked at her. Several emotions crossed his face then settled in a perplexed scowl. He pointed at Robert’s limp body. Billy was kneeling next to him checking his pulse from his carotid artery.
“He called me out,” he said incredulously. “You heard him. You were sitting right there.”
She frowned at him. “You can plainly see he’s not himself lately.”
Hack nodded. “Yeah, he looks like shit.”
“And, he smells like shit,” Bob said, wrinkling his nose.
An angry purple welt blossomed on Robert’s cheek. He groaned, but did not move.
Boomer’s stern gaze flicked to each of the strikers. “Go on, then. Go drink, or whatever you’re going to do. Just get out of my sight.”
The ruffians exchanged glances and shrugged. They moved off to the far end of the galley, laughing as they went.
***
Billy pulled Robert to a sitting position. Boomer knelt down next to him and grabbed his head to look at the welt. Robert protested with a grunt.
“Dear God, this looks wretched already,” she said, releasing his head. She turned to Billy. “Help me get him up, let’s get him to the med bay.”
Boomer and Billy each took an arm over their shoulder, slowly walking him out of the galley.
Robert groaned, trying to move his legs. They felt like lead. He could feel his heart thumping in his face. “Perhaps that was not a wise thing to do.”
Boomer let out a short laugh. “Perhaps,” she said, as the galley doors hissed shut behind them.
She waved her free hand to bring up a comm screen and called Doctor Drake. The ring signal buzzed several times. “Come on, Doctor, pick up your damned comm,” she said, grunting under Robert’s weight.
After some time, he answered his comm. “Yes? Hello?” he said. Boomer noticed he had disabled video, there was only an audio feed.
“Doctor Drake, I’m afraid we’re in need of your services. It’s Robert. He got into a scrape with Digg. We’re enroute to the med bay now.”
“Dear God. Very well, I’ll be there in a few minutes,” he said, then closed the comm.
Billy tried to shift Robert’s weight more to his side. “He’ll be there in a few minutes? Where the bloody hell is he?”
They made it to the med bay a minute or two later. Boomer grabbed Robert’s feet and helped Billy lay him on the examination table. Boomer wrinkled her nose. “Bob’s right. He smells terrible,” she said, taking a step back.
Billy looked around the med bay. There were four doors on the forward wall. They led to the medical personnel’s quarters. The first door slid open. John quickly stepped out, buttoning the top button on his shirt. As the doors slid shut, he spied May Suzuki. She was pulling on her pants. Billy felt is mouth curl into a grin. You sly dog, he thought, looking in John’s direction.
***
John looked slightly sheepish, until he saw Robert’s face. “Goodness me,” he said as he opened a few med screens. The doctor looked around the room. “I guess it’s safe to assume, since Digg isn’t here, he’s in no need of medical assistance. The fight was rather one-sided?”
Boomer crossed her arms. “Yes, Doctor. That’s safe to assume.”
John’s eyes widened at a particular readout. He turned to Boomer. “His blood alcohol content is .27!” he said incredulously. He toggled switch on a holo-screen, starting a full body scan.
The doctor’s door slid open and May Suzuki walked out, putting her hair in a ponytail. She smiled pleasantly at Boomer and Billy. Her face became concerned as she approached the examination table. She went to a rolling cart and started going through its drawers.
“May, please get me a few alcohol inhibitors, and perhaps a stim tab, please,” John asked his medic—and lover, apparently.
She found what the doctor asked for and handed them to him. “Here you go, Doctor,” she said a bit too formally. He smiled politely.
The full body scan completed. The 3D image of Robert’s body appeared a meter above him. It was a skeletal view. Glowing red concentric circles appeared in two places on Robert’s skull. The med bed beeped angrily.
“Oh dear,” John said, zooming in on his skull. “His zygomatic and maxilla bones are shattered, and he has a fracture at the base of his skull.”
He grabbed a holo-screen, his fingers flying as he made adjustments and narrowed the scan path. His concern was rapidly growing into alarm. “He has internal bleeding. His brain is beginning to swell. I must operate. Now. May, prep the surgical suite,” he said.
She broke into a run. At the far end of the med bay sat a three meter capsule that had been taken from the Pegasus. She powered it up, and ran through start-up diagnostics.
John turned to Billy and Boomer. She looked pensive, and Billy looked distraught. “Help me carry him to the surgical suite,” he ordered. They both quickly moved to help.
John grabbed Robert’s shoulders, cradling his head. Boomer put her arms under the small of his back, and Billy grabbed his feet. They moved as quickly as they dared.
They set him gently into the capsule. The transparent glass slid and snapped shut. Several robotic arms sprouted from the end of the capsule above Robert’s head. John pressed buttons and brought up medical readouts. He slipped on a pair of VR waldo gloves and started manipulating the robotic ar
ms inside the capsule.
John selected a circular saw and one of the high-speed drills, then started moving them towards Robert’s skull. Almost as an afterthought, he turned towards Boomer and Billy. “It would be best if you both left. I’ll call you with news when I have it.”
Boomer’s eyes met his and she nodded. “Then I leave him in your capable hands,” she said and turned to go. Billy followed.
John turned his head towards Boomer. “Please inform the captain of the situation.”
Boomer looked towards the doctor and nodded. “I’ll let them know,” she said as the med bay doors slid shut.
CHAPTER 32
There was a throbbing pulse in his head that was keeping time with his heart. Each beat was like getting thumped with a club. He groaned, and reached up to touch his cheek. It felt swollen and was sensitive to the touch. Robert realized he was in sickbay. The lights burned into his retinas. He squeezed his eyes shut.
Robert could hear to the tap of soft-soled shoes of someone approaching. He opened his eyes just enough to see the small figure of May Suzuki through the slits. She toggled her comm and called Doctor Drake. “John, he’s waking up.”
Robert did not hear his response. He tried to open his eyes again, more searing pain. He very slowly forced his eyelids to part. He squinted at his surroundings. He was lying on one of the med beds. What the hell happened? What am I doing here? He tried to remember where he was last. The memories were hazy. I was in the galley, drinking, who was I talking to? Digg? No, Boomer. What about Digg? Robert probed his thoughts, and then the memories flooded in. Oh, bloody hell. What was I thinking?
The medic approached. “Relax, Mr. Ford. You had some major head trauma. You’re going to feel out of sorts for a day or two,” she said in a soothing voice.
The med bay doors parted, and Drake strode in. His smile reached all the way to his eyes. He stood next to Robert, accessing a few holo-screens. “Welcome back, Robert.”
Robert groaned again. He could open his eyes about halfway now. “I feel like I was run down by a lorry,” he said groggily.
John chuckled. “I don’t think a lorry would’ve done as much damage.” He toggled a few buttons on one of the holo-screens. “Don’t worry, you’re on the mend.” John looked over at his lovely medic and nodded. She returned the nod and left the med bay.
“Robert, I’m not going to pretend I know what you’ve been going through, but the self-destructive behavior must end.”
Robert tried to sit up, but spikes of pain shot through his head and ran down his body. He slumped back into the soft cushion of the bed. That was a terrible idea. Maybe I’ll just lie still for a bit.
John grabbed Robert’s wrists and pulled him up to a sitting position. Robert’s eyes fluttered, they were nearly fully open now. He sat up and looked around.
“It’s so damned bright in here.”
“Don’t worry. Your eyes will soon adjust.”
A thought struck Robert. “How long have I been in here?”
“Three days.”
Robert blinked at that. It didn’t seem like that much time had passed. “Was it that serious?”
John continued looking at a holo-screen. He turned to look at his friend. “Yes. You nearly died. Luckily for you, there was a surgical suite and a talented trauma surgeon available.” He smiled briefly. “Now, back to the topic at hand. Your behavior of late has been erratic. This must stop.”
Robert groaned and turned his head away.
John moved to the other side of the bed. “Robert, I’m serious. If Digg hadn’t sent you here first, your blood alcohol level would have.”
Robert’s eyes were dull and lifeless. He looked up to John to speak. The words came slowly. “All that I was has been extinguished. I don’t know how to cope with my new station in life.”
John’s eyes turned glassy and downcast. He tried to speak, but stumbled. Robert wasn’t sure he wanted to hear what his friend had to say anyway. Then John brightened, “You know, Boomer has been here many times over the last few days.” He gestured to the chair next to his bed. “She even slept there, the first night you were in here.”
Robert registered the comment in his brain, but could not find any response.
The doors to the med bay swished open. Boomer entered, followed by May Suzuki. Boomer approached Robert’s bedside, and May returned to her medic station.
Boomer sighed, Her relief was unmistakable, but short-lived. Her eyes hardened and her jaw muscles tensed. “I hope Digg managed to knock some sense into you. He almost killed you Robert,” she said crossly.
Deep shame flowed through Robert like a rushing river. He started to raise his head, and stopped. He could not bear to make eye contact with her.
She stood there for a moment appraising him. She furrowed her brow and turned to leave. “I’m glad you’re mending,” she said as the med bay doors closed behind her.
CHAPTER 33
Robert was back at work. He spent four days in the med bay recovering from what turned out to be brain and facial reconstructive surgery. He still sported a black eye. The raiders met his return with taunts and jeers. Only Nigel and Ruby abstained.
He scraped red mold from the walls. The pits were getting deeper and deeper. He was nearly three meters below the deck now and needed a ladder to climb in and out. The raiders were playing cards once again. He could hear their occasional hoots and hollers. Robert was now able to tune most of it out.
“He’s over there. But mind your step,” Deke called out to someone. He continued to scrape the horrible smelling mold from the shiny metal walls.
“Hello down there,” Robert heard a familiar voice say. Boomer. Robert grimaced. I don’t want her to see me like this, I guess I don’t have much of a choice. He looked up, trying to force a smile. He failed. “I’ll be with you just a moment,” he said, climbing the ladder back to the surface.
He emerged from the putrid hole and sat on the edge with his feet dangling. He forced himself to meet her gaze. He was dirty, and for some reason it shamed him to have her see him doing this kind of labor.
“How are you feeling, Robert?” she asked with genuine concern.
Robert shrugged. “Just peachy. The universe is my oyster,” he said, not meeting her eyes.
Her pleasant, concerned face melted away, replaced by contempt and scorn. “Stop feeling sorry for yourself, Robert. It doesn’t suit you.”
Robert’s embarrassment and shame shifted to anger. “Oh, have you cleaned shite out of the belly of a ship?” he spat out, glaring at her.
Her face hardened. She took a step closer and took a knee next to him. She pointed an accusing finger at him. “You have no idea what I’ve been through,” she said coldly, and a bit too loudly.
The raiders stopped their card game. All conversation ceased as every one of them leaned in, not even trying to hide that they were listening.
“You think you’re the only one to have run away from all you know and love?” she said, a bit quieter, but with more steel in her voice. “You’re the only one to leave a posh life, wanting for nothing, then end up in a world of shite and blood?”
Robert’s brief anger melted back to his previous embarrassment and shame. His shoulders slumped, and he felt utterly defeated. He wanted to say something. No words came.
“Are you suicidal?” she asked.
Robert considered the question.
In a swift and smooth motion, Boomer pulled her pistol from her holster. She racked the slide back, chambering a round. She grabbed the pistol by the barrel and offered it to him. He took it, feeling the weight in his hand.
There was a gasp and muted conversation from the raiders. Neither Boomer or Robert paid them any attention. They might as well have been alone in the cargo bay.
“Here’s your chance to end your suffering,” she said, leaning in towards him. Her eyes burned with intensity. “Just click off the safety, and be done with it.”
Robert looked at the gun in his hand. He
took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and put the muzzle of the gun to his temple. Perhaps I should. Perhaps I should call her bluff. I could paint the floor with my brains, and I wouldn’t be the one cleaning it. Perhaps some will consider this justice. But…
All the raiders stood, watching the possible death of Robert Taylor Ford unfold before their eyes. Robert could hear their excited muttering. He imagined bets are being placed at this moment. And some, if not all were recording vid caps. To hell with them.
Robert opened his eyes. Boomer’s eyes were pinched, and her lips tight as she watched the pistol lower from Robert’s temple. She let out a breath in a small huff through her nose.
She didn’t know what I was going to do, Robert thought. If he was honest with himself, he hadn’t been sure what he was going to do either, at least, until he had lowered the gun. Then he realized something that made a small part of him swell inside. It was a tiny part, almost completely shriveled up and dead, but it grew now, all thanks to one thought. She hadn’t wanted him to pull the trigger. She cared. That simple fact, and the emotions that came with it, made him want to laugh.
He thumbed the safety lever back on, handing it back to her. She quickly holstered it.
The Raiders were utterly silent now.
Their eyes met. They looked at each other, not saying a word. Robert felt strength and pride returning. He let out a long slow breath. Who is this remarkable woman? Though he had a pretty good idea who she was.
“Very well, I’ve decided I want to live,” he said, with renewed vigor.
Boomer’s eyes softened and a smile curled her lips. “Good. I’m glad to hear it. We have a target.” she said so quickly, he almost missed the last part.
“Wait, what?”
She stood, putting her hands on her hips. “You heard me. ETA to target is one hour thirty minutes.” She turned on her heel and started to leave. She stopped and turned back.
“So, go get cleaned up. It’s show time.” She turned and left.
***
Robert quickly showered, dried off, and pulled on his nanosuit. He stepped to his sink and splashed cold water on his face. “Showtime, indeed,” he said to his reflection.
We Happy Few: The Leviathan Universe 2138 Page 17