Carbon Life

by HR Ringer

  “A brother, parents,” she answered. “Dad’s military. Brother’s still in school.” She looked down for a moment, then said sadly, “I have to write the letter. At least we recovered his body. Hope the surgeons at the HQ morgue can close up that knife wound, maybe camouflage it somehow.” Mosley looked down again and muttered, “Fucking batarians.”

  Xiùlán silently agreed before adding, “He was a good Marine, Ma’am, a good person.”

  “Corporal Barnes mentioned finding a batarian pinned to the ground with a ceramic blade… said there was a pony tail of black hair…,” she paused as she studied Xiùlán’s hair, “…yours, I presume, since your long hair seems to be missing… it was coiled around the blade protruding from his chest. Some kind of warning?”

  “You might say that,” Yuán had responded in a tone suggesting equal parts sadness and defiance. “Always had long hair, ever since I was a child. It is…” she paused to correct herself, “…or rather, was, part of who I am. He was already dying from the gunshot wound.” Xiùlán continued quietly, “I made sure he died with the knowledge he’d picked the wrong woman to mess with. Hope you left him where I pinned him.”

  Mosley almost smiled. “Actually, we didn’t feel we had enough time to retrieve him, or any of the others you left behind. Corporal found another batarian deeper in the mine, pinned to the side of a container in a similar manner.”

  Mosley held up a datapad with a still image displayed on the screen. “I’ve heard there are some really bad-assed omni-blades in special dev, but I’ve never seen anything like this.” She handed the datapad to Xiùlán.

  Yuán raised her right forearm to display her bracelet and said quietly, “Serrice Council, Savant, model ten-plus. Asari manufactured for their commandos. That particular blade is special…” Xiùlán demonstrated by holding her arm up straight with clenched fist, “…propelled across the top of the tool, top of our wrist, into whatever our fist connects with. Micro-serrations on each edge – point towards the tip along one edge, away from the tip on the other; makes it extremely difficult to extricate from a body, especially if it’s through bone like that one.” She handed the datapad back. “Very effective melee weapon.”

  “I’m surprised they didn’t take it from you when they dragged you out of the Mako.”

  “It’s keyed to my DNA, so anyone taking it from me would lose their hand if they tried to use it.” Xiùlán looked down for several moments as she thought back. “I seriously doubt they realized what it was; it doesn’t look like a standard omni-tool interface. Samantha’s bracelet looks exactly like this one, has all the same features.” Xiùlán looked at the jeweled bracelet. “They had us locked in cages. I had a bloody gash in my head, Traynor was coughing blood. They didn’t think we were capable of going anywhere. Hell, for all the batarians knew, we were wearing bonding bracelets.”

  “Must have been pretty bad down there,” Mosley replied. Nodding towards the sleeping form under the blankets, she asked, “How’s Traynor doing now?”

  Xiùlán smiled grimly as her eyes misted. “She lost a hellova lot of blood. Lung nearly collapsed, but she’s stable now… should be up and around by the time we hit the relay.”

  “I understand you refused treatment until Doc Finn treated her injuries,” Mosley said,

  Xiùlán coughed to clear her throat before continuing. “I wasn’t having any trouble breathing, and I was absolutely terrified I was going to lose her in that stinkin’ mine.” She brought a shaking hand up to her forehead, squeezed both temples between thumb and forefinger. “She scared the living hell out of me, Cap’n.”

  Tears continued to leak from her eyes, despite her best efforts to rein them in. “Our mission was a failure, Ma’am… we weren’t supposed to be discovered, yet we were seen on Jartar and captured on Klensal. We lost a team member, damn near lost our own lives. I don’t think we’ll receive a passing grade from our instructors, do you?”

  “On the contrary, Yuán. Despite being discovered, despite your capture, I’d say your mission was a success. You uncovered and retrieved artifacts from Jartar, pieces that may well be a billion or more years old! Your unfortunate capture by batarians on Klensal resulted in the deaths of every single slaver involved, the destruction of one of their vessels, the capture of another. The only negative for us is the murder of Sergeant Perkins, something none of us could have foreseen.”

  “His death is something I own now, Captain,” Yuán solemnly intoned. “I wasn’t able to keep him safe… that in itself is a mission failure to me.”

  Captain Mosley placed her hand gently on top of Xiùlán's and lifted it away from her face so she could look into her eyes. “You are in no way responsible for Perkins’ murder, Yuán. He was under my command, my responsibility. Don’t think for even a second you have to bear that burden… it’s not something you could have prevented. You and Traynor made those batarians pay for his murder. I won’t allow you to leave my ship thinking you owe a debt that is not yours to accept, are we clear?”

  Xiùlán solemnly looked at the captain for several seconds before nodding her head.

  “Good!” Captain Mosley placed Yuán’s hand alongside her hip, holding onto it as she finished with, “You get some rest, Serviceman. You…,” she looked over at the sleeping figure of Samantha Traynor, “… both of you… did well today. I’ll stop back by tomorrow so I can talk to Traynor; thank her as well for all she did.”

  Xiùlán laid her head back and closed her eyes as she attempted to calm her raging emotions. She thought back to a conversation she’d had with Sam the morning after they arrived on Mars. ‘… Sam was watching me as I ate breakfast. She voiced her fear of losing me ‘to something neither of us could control’ – I told her I could not bear the thought of losing her. Damn if I didn’t nearly have to discover how to live without her.’

  Xiùlán took a deep breath and let it out slowly, once again offering silent thanks that Sam’s life had been spared. Still, her mind refused to rest, thinking about Sam’s brush with death… ‘right after Heather’s murder by Cerberus,’ Xiùlán remembered, ‘Sam told me she was worried I would end up cold on some exam table. Damn if it wasn’t almost Sam in my place!’

  The Hong Kong was currently en route to the Antaeus System. Xiùlán hoped Sam would be well on the way to a complete recovery by the time they arrived back in their own cluster. ‘I am so looking forward to sleeping in my own bed cuddled up next to Sammy…’ was her last thought as she finally drifted off to sleep.

  Xiùlán didn’t know how long she’d slept… she just knew it was long enough for her to be stiff all over; she felt as if every muscle in her body had been dragged through a rolling mill. She knew where she was, as the bed had not miraculously grown more comfortable while she slept. She thought back to awakening in a slaver’s cage, hardly able to open her eyes past her blood matted lashes. She cautiously eased her eyelids open without moving her head, which also hurt.

  As her eyes focused and adjusted to the ambient light, a face… the face… of the woman she had grown to love, swam into focus. Sam’s eyes were open, studying her, waiting for her to wake up. “Good morning, Luv,” came the whispered greeting.

  Xiùlán tried to rise, but could only manage to bring her head up slightly. “Sammy?” Her mouth was dry, voice gravelly. “My god, Sammy? Oh, my darling Sà mǐ… I’m so happy to see you awake again! I was so terrified you were going… to… leave me.”

  Traynor grinned as she replied in a quiet voice, “Not ready to check out yet, darling. I’d say we’ve endured a baptism of fire, wouldn’t you?”

  Xiùlán returned Sam’s grin and carefully reached her hand out. Sam brought a hand out as well; their beds were just close enough for them to intertwine their fingers. Yuán was so relieved to hear Sam’s voice and touch her hand, she started to weep. “I thought I’d lost you, Sà mǐ… down there, in that miserable mine.” Voice hitching, she continued, “I couldn’t find your pulse, and your skin was so cold. I was so scared…
”

  Doctor Finn had heard Xiùlán crying; coming up to their beds, he asked, “Should I push you two together?”

  Traynor nodded, so the doctor repositioned her bed against Xiùlán’s. He gently placed his hand on Xiùlán’s forehead while wiping her tears away with the other, saying, “Serviceman Traynor is doing quite well, Ms Yuán. We’re monitoring her condition closely, but I really don’t expect any complications. She’s in excellent health, as are you.” He paused to look at her head wound, then continued, “I didn’t see a need to insert a catheter in either of you, so feel free to use the facilities when you’re ready.” He looked pointedly at their IV’s as he warned, “Just be careful of your tubes, okay? They hurt like all bloody hell when you simply yank ‘em out of your arms.”

  After leaving them alone, Xiùlán had her emotions back in control enough to smile at the lovely face beside her. “How long were you watching me, Sà mǐ?”

  “Long enough. I hardly ever see you relaxed, Xiùlán. Your face is absolutely beautiful when you’re asleep…” she paused as she rolled her eyes, “… well, it’s beautiful when you’re awake as well, but… when you sleep, you’re totally at peace… there’s a serenity there you don’t allow anyone to see when you’re awake. It’s something I’ve only ever seen when you’re meditating.”

  Xiùlán smiled at Traynor, then grimaced as she tried to get her upper body a bit more comfortable on the bed. As she moved, her exam gown slipped off her shoulder and revealed the bandage on her bullet wound, causing instant concern in Sam’s eyes.

  “What the ‘ell is that then?”

  Xiùlán looked down at her chest as she attempted to straighten the gown. “The first guy you shot? Before you shot him, his bullet went right through my armor plate… I was falling backwards as you killed ‘im… even heard your bullet go over my head.” Xiùlán nodded at her lover. “You were right… bullet fired from close range will go right through the armor if the kinetic shield is down. Sonovabitch was a good ten meters away from me. Doc managed to dig it out without too much effort, so it wasn’t terribly deep. Blood soaked my under-armor shirt, and I never felt a thing.”

  Sam looked thoughtful. “We need to figure out a way to have an auxiliary shield generator installed within our backplates – something that cannot be easily removed.”

  Xiùlán grinned ruefully. “Plus I need to get the chest plate repaired by the base armorer.” She started to seriously move around on the bed. “Need to pee.” By the time she had successfully extricated herself from the bed, she had shredded her gown and any hope of maintaining her modesty. ‘… to hell with it!’ she thought as she tossed the ineffective garment across the room. ‘Damned thing is too small for me anyway!’

  Grabbing the stand holding the IV solution, she hobbled her way, nudity be damned, to the small restroom. Samantha covered her mouth to keep from laughing, but the sight of her lover limping in an attempt to stalk angrily across the Med Bay in her birthday suit had Sam doubled up as she gasped out, “Dammit, Xiùlán! Don’t make me laugh! Hurts!”

  Doctor Finn noticed the disgruntled woman as she made it into the restroom and smiled. Her antics had brought joy to Samantha, which he felt was a good thing. Still, it wouldn’t do for his patients to be seen running around the Med Bay in the buff, so he quickly dug up a long ‘over-the-head’ gown for Ms Yuán and held it out to her as she emerged from the restroom; Yuán stopped as an arm dropped in front of her. This gown was a lot more substantial and actually had a back. Hook-n-loop along the open side would make it easier to get on and off. After throwing on this new, mid-thigh length offering, she thanked Dr Finn as she fastened front to back and limped back to her mangled bed.

  * * *

  * HADES GAMMA / ANTAEUS SYSTEM • SATURDAY MORNING, 2180/03/18 *

  The Hong Kong slowed to sub-light speed at the edge of the Antaeus System, the captured batarian corvette still being ‘flown’ alongside. They had another nine hours travel time to reach the system’s Mass Relay, where they were scheduled to meet a full relief crew that would take over repairs and operation of the captured ship.

  Traynor and Xiùlán ate breakfast together in the crew mess area, happy to be back in their SDU’s after having to spend nearly a week in the Med Bay – Traynor recovering from fractured ribs that had caused injury to her left lung; Xiùlán with a serious scalp laceration, a gunshot wound in her chest and a knife wound in her calf muscle.

  As a result of one of their batarian captors cutting off her luxuriously long hair, Xiùlán had allowed Corporal Qian Long Xi, (recommended by Dr Finn as handy with a comb and scissors), to trim her hair in back. Her batarian captor had simply sliced her hair off with a knife; as it had been gathered and tied into a ‘pony tail’, the raw cut had left many different lengths at the back of her head.

  Corporal Qian turned out to be a miracle worker with a woman’s hair – he had trimmed Xiùlán’s very thick hair all over, layering it into what he called a ‘short-messy’ hairstyle. It was going to take Xiùlán time to get used to her new look; she now had bangs, with a feathery look on the back and sides – the hair on the sides of her head framed her face, giving her, as Qian had told her, ‘an overall softer, more feminine appearance’.

  She had laughed when Qian had told her the advantage to this particular style was she could jump out of bed, shake her head, use her fingers as combs and her hair would fall right into place. And until her scalp injury was completely healed and hair from the regenerated skin was once again growing, this haircut helped hide that injury from view.

  She had tried the technique this morning and was pleasantly surprised. She only had to use her fingertips to scrunch it around a bit and it looked just as it had the evening before. Amazingly, Traynor had loved her new look, commenting that she couldn’t wait to take Xiùlán for a ‘test-flight’ in their quarters on Mars; Traynor also thought the ‘overall softer appearance’ comment was Qian trying to flatter her. To Sam’s way of thinking, Xiùlán’s new haircut seriously screamed ‘bad-girl’.

  “Aw-w-w, Sam. You’re jealous, just because a man from my home country thinks I’m an attractive woman. That’s so sweet,” Xiùlán had chided. “I may just keep it this way for a while. It’s certainly a lot easier to take care of.”

  Traynor wasn’t so sure that was a good idea either, but decided saying nothing against her lover’s idea would produce the least amount of conflict between them.

  Captain Mosley had stopped by while the pair were finishing their morning tea (a treat offered by Corporal Qian). After getting a mug of fresh coffee, she sat down across from Yuán and said, “Nice haircut. Too bad it’s not regulation.”

  Mosley had sat next to Traynor, so was unable to see the smirk on her face; Xiùlán frowned at Sam before looking at Mosley and replying with a smile, “For the missions we’re going to be assigned, the less I look like I’m employed by the Alliance, the better, Ma’am.” She paused to take a sip of tea, then continued, “Traynor here thinks I look like a ‘bad girl’ – like I run with a gang. You want me to recomb it, Ma’am? Corporal Qian left enough for me to do so.”

  “Not necessary as far as I’m concerned, Yuán, but thanks for asking. Nice to know you still respect Alliance dress and appearance standards…,” here the captain smiled broadly as she finished with, “…even if you do look like a damned anarchist.”

  “Thank you, Ma’am!” Xiùlán smiled broadly. “I do believe that’s the look I’m going for.”

  Mosley looked from Yuán to Traynor and back. “So, both of you healing up okay?”

  Traynor answered for both of them. “We are. Dr Finn does excellent work.”

  Yuán added, “Don’t forget the medic on board the shuttle, Sammy. I don’t think you would have lasted much longer without intervention by someone that knew what to do!”

  “Good to hear.” Mosley said. “And just so you know, we recovered your weapons from inside the Mako… tagged ‘em and placed them in the armory. Those hand cannons you broug
ht? I’d really hate to be facing the business end of one of those things.”

  Xiùlán grinned. “That’s very good news, Captain. I don’t think I want the cost of one of those coming out of my pay. They’re designed for use by Council Spectres…at my pay grade, probably take a decade or more to save enough credits to actually buy one!”

  Traynor added, “And my sniper rifle has a lot of custom modifications. I’d really hate to start over with a new one. Thank you, Captain.”

  “We recovered the M-35 as well,” Mosley continued. “A few minor hull and control systems repairs and it’ll be ready to go again. Damn things are really tough.” Her expression quickly turned solemn as she thought about what she’d just said.

  Xiùlán caught the change in her mood and immediately knew why. “There’s something you’re not sharing with us, Captain. I can see it in your eyes.”

  Samantha split her attention between the captain and her lover. “Why, what’s wrong, Captain? What are you thinking?” Traynor felt this must be about Sergeant Perkins; she’d not been told any more than that Perkins’ killer had cut his throat. “What aren’t you telling us, Captain?”

  Mosley replied, “I don’t think you really need to know just how depraved those people were, Ms Traynor.”

  Sam looked imploringly at Captain Mosley. “What do you know, Ma’am? Please… tell us.”

  Mosley returned Sam’s gaze with an unhappy look of her own, then suddenly stood and said, “Wait here, Servicemen,” as she left for the elevator. After several minutes, during which an unusually solemn Xiùlán refilled her cup with tea, Mosley returned and placed a datapad on the table as she retook her seat; with her other hand she placed a clear vinyl bag, sealed at the top edge with black-striped red tape. Inside there appeared to be a pair of synthetic tubes, approximately 15 Cm long by 5 Cm in diameter with a piece of stainless wire wrapped around both of them; there was dried blood all over both tubes, along with bits of… something… red… randomly stuck to the wire.