Trinity: Atom & Go

by Zach Winderl

  “That’s straight from the warden.” He leaned in with a conspiratorial wink. “Other than that lonestar, Johan Kim, there were no fatalities.”

  “Kim?” Daisy asked. “He the reason for the decomp?”

  “Aye. Apparently, he was cooking something up in his cell that didn’t handle too good. His death was ruled accidental, so no major investigation.”

  “Saw the explosion from the yard. Do they know what caused it? I imagine the prison is tight with anything that could compromise the integrity of the station’s hull.”

  Roop shrugged.

  Daisy eyed the heavy man as Atom groaned.

  “What’s the real reason for this visit?” Daisy climbed to his feet and faced Roop.

  “Charnal wants a sit down.” Roop frowned down at Atom. “Let me know when he’s back on his feet.”

  “I’m good,” Atom said without opening his eyes.

  “You want to go now?”

  “Better now than later.” Atom took a steadying breath and pushed himself to his feet. Stumbling over to Daisy, he grabbed the pilot’s arm to steady himself and managed to squint at Roop. “Any idea what it’s about?”

  Roop shrugged. “Maybe it’s a personal congratulations on the job.” He turned to exit the room. “Or maybe he just wants to throw something else your way.

  “Any way about it,” he continued after passing the guards. “My shop is open.”

  Atom followed on wet-noodle legs, falling in between the guards. He leaned on Daisy to keep himself steady. Roop parted ways as they reached the block floor, whistling a soft ditty as he returned to his table of business.

  “You sure this is smart?” Daisy asked as they followed the guards towards the gate.

  “Nope,” Atom said as he took a deep breath. “But we need to figure out where we stand in this whole mess.” The guards seemed to be turning a deaf ear to their conversation, but Atom didn’t trust their words to stay private. “I do know we’re stuck here until we get the recall orders. That means we need to find a way to play civil between two hans and a warden.”

  Daisy sighed. “So, we just need to ride things out?”

  “Keep our heads on the deck and hope we don’t skim too close to a grav well.”

  As they approached the gate, Atom heard the soft grinding of locks and decompression cycles. He took another deep breath, willing his head to clear. With each breath, he felt a touch further from death.

  “I’m almost feeling human again.” He winced as the door opened with a loud hiss.

  In the portal beyond, Warden James stood waiting with Fresk at his side like a loyal hound.

  Atom and Daisy swore in the same breath.

  The warden smiled and straightened his glasses. Without a word, he motioned for the pair to join him in the hall. He turned without waiting. Fresk simmered as Atom stumbled through the gate with Daisy a step behind.

  “Excellent, you sent my message.” James led the way up the plain hallway and made a turn away from the next block. “I appreciate the speed with which you work. I can’t wait to see the back half of this message for Charnal. Unfortunately, there is someone who wants a word with you before you can complete this task for me.”

  “Who else knows I’m here?” Atom asked as they approached the smaller, hub gate.

  Warden James remained silent as the gate hummed to life.

  In the station hub, they passed through a series of hallways that increased in comfort to the point where Atom questioned whether he still walked the halls of an interstellar prison. Casting a glance back to Fresk, he wondered at the purpose of the meeting. The ever-present guard glared at Atom and growled.

  As they drew near the center of the prison station, Atom felt a shift in the soles of his feet.

  “Cocked grav?” Daisy murmured.

  “It’s light,” Atom replied.

  “I find it easier on the joints,” James spoke without turning his head. “Just know, whatever the outcome of this meeting, I expect our agreement to hold. I haven’t seen any files on official transfer, so I’m assuming that means you’re here for an extended stay.”

  “Warden, who is this meeting with?”

  “Mr. Ulvan, I find your candor both presumptuous and stimulating.” The warden stopped outside a door flanked by a pair of armored guards. “Whom you meet is at my discretion and frankly, it only concerns you once you enter their presence.”

  He waved to the guards and the door hissed open.

  Inside the room, Atom found an empty sitting chamber with several low couches and reclining mats. As James stepped over the threshold, the low lights sprang to life. The warden waved to the empty couches and proceeded past them through one of several smaller portals.

  “Make yourselves comfortable,” said Fresk in her soft voice even as she flashed a hard smile.

  Atom ignored the woman and settled onto one of the mats with a straight-backed grace. Daisy snorted at the formality and flopped onto one of the couches.

  “You’d think with all the money this boke rolls, he could afford some comfier seats.” Daisy grimaced and shifted in his seat to find a more comfortable position. “Hey, lass,” he said, waving a hand in Fresk’s direction. “Why don’t you scare us up something drinkable? I could savor a brew right about now.”

  Atom fought a retch.

  “Or maybe you grab some eats and join us.” Daisy grinned at Atom’s discomfort and patted the seat next to him. “I saved a seat for you, darl.”

  Fresk looked ready to explode. “I’m not your serving wench,” she growled.

  “Fooled me,” Daisy said with a playful laugh. “Hey Atom, you have any idea what she’s here for, if she’s not a servant.”

  Atom took a deep, centering breath. “Maybe a secretary?”

  “That the case, la?” Daisy craned his neck to look at Fresk from an inverted position. “You turning into a soft scribbler?”

  Fresk took a step forward, but at that moment James cracked the door to his office. “Oh, Fresk, there you are. Run to my larder and fetch a platter of shaved quri steak with a sharp cheese.” The warden waved at Fresk like an impatient school-master and hissed in a low tone. “Now, woman, I have important matters to attend to. This could be a move for both of us.”

  For the briefest moment, Fresk hesitated. Atom watched with interest as her eyes flashed between Daisy and James. Something in the look gave Atom pause, then she disappeared through the far door and James ducked back into his office. Craning his neck, Atom caught sight of a long wooden table as Fresk’s door hissed shut to leave him alone with Daisy.

  “You worried, Atom?”

  “She knows her path,” Atom replied, too much from rote.

  “Go’s got the rest of the crew watching over her.” Daisy yawned and rubbed his eyes, fighting the sedate quiet of the sitting room. “She’s safer there than here.”

  “That’s always the case.” Atom folded his hands in his lap and focused on his interlocking fingers for a time before turning his gaze back to Daisy. “Tell me how Mae fits into the story of Daisy.”

  “Not much to tell, she found me and sticks to me wherever I go.”

  “Cats are territorial. Your territory is the Black.”

  “I know, Atom. She doesn’t make any sense. I figure I’m her territory.”

  “Fair enough,” Atom said as he rose to his feet in a fluid motion and walked the circumference of the room with measured strides. “Tell me another story about Daisy.”

  The pilot watched Atom’s wandering and registered the distracted air. He pursed his lips in thought. “I split a girl’s head open once.” Daisy frowned at the floor and Atom glanced over from the far side of his lap. Daisy leaned forward, elbows on knees, his former air of uncaring disregard gone. “I didn’t mean to. But accidents don’t mean a thing, because they still happen. It might have been a stupid mistake on my part, but that girl had to grow up with a scar down her forehead because of me.”

  Daisy lifted his eyes and Atom found the g
host of regret.

  “What happened?” Atom asked.

  “I thought she was cute.”

  “How old were you?”

  “Seven,” Daisy grimaced. “A mate and I stole the girl’s hat and were playing catch with it while she tried to get it back. I wanted her to notice me, but hadn’t figured out how to use my words yet. Like a dummkopf I used actions instead of words. She tripped on the leg of a chair and pitched head-first into the teacher’s desk.

  “There was blood everywhere.” Daisy looked down at his hands as if envisioning the blood and the manifestation of the guilt.

  “What happened?”

  “We owed recompense.” Daisy sniffed and lifted his eyes. “My ma sold six months of my life to the family of the girl. Every day after school I went to their house and did whatever chores they gave me.

  “Realistically, it could have been much worse.” Daisy rose to his feet. “They could have demanded financial compensation. That would have broken my family. I don’t think her father ever truly forgave me, but the girl and her mother did. Girls aren’t stupid. She knew exactly why I did what I did. In her way, she was kind to me after that. Every afternoon she would share her snack with me, even though she could have crushed me if she had wanted.”

  “Why do all your stories make me want to walk out an airlock?”

  Daisy shook his head, slapped by Atom’s words.

  “I mean,” Atom continued, ending his lapping of the room and returning to his place on the mat. “Something good or funny had to have happened to you at some point in your life. You laugh and smile too much for all of your stories to be doom and gloom.”

  “Most of those involve drink.”

  “Drink makes you happy?”

  “Loosens me.” With a shrug, Daisy rose and wandered over to the door to the dining room where he tried without success to open it. “I don’t necessarily drink to forget. Most nights it’s just to relax.”

  Atom closed his eyes and stretched his back upright.

  “One time, at a cadet dance, back when I was in the academy, I carried seven friends across the room on my back.” Daisy returned to his own couch, but ended up perching on the back with his arms crossed. He stared daggers at the office hatch.

  “What do you value?” Atom asked.

  “I used to value loyalty, but there seems so little of that in the Black these days. I don’t have family. Money is money and while it keeps me floating, I don’t need much more than a handful to get me to the next job.”

  “Seems you spit a whole slew of things you don’t value,” Atom said.

  “I value,” Daisy hesitated, “what you and the others have done for me. I value my place on the One Way Ticket.”

  “Remember that.” Atom’s voice carried a grim finality. “What we have is fragile. A moment’s hesitation, the slightest mistake, a miscalculation and we all end. I will give my life to keep this ship-family together, but like everything else in the Black, this family could disappear in a whisper of particles scattered to the astral winds.

  “Is that still acceptable to you?” Atom listed his eyes to Daisy.

  “Aye,” Daisy replied without hesitation.

  A smile quirked across Atom’s face as he examined the situation with stolid resolve. “Then let’s figure out our next step. Margo needs us.”

  They waited in silence a few more minutes before Fresk came bustling back through the door bearing a platter of meats and cheese. Before the door hissed shut behind her, Daisy and Atom moved in a synchronized, if unrehearsed, dance.

  The pilot lurched to his feet with a hungry grin on his face as he stepped towards Fresk. “My gut, I’m starving.” He all but drooled at the assortment of savory offerings. “I’m hoping against my ship that those are for us.”

  Fresk dropped a hand to the stun baton at her hip. “Ain’t got time fer your games,” she said and slipped past Daisy’s disappointed gaze.

  Daisy watched her leave like an abandoned puppy outside a restaurant.

  As the door hissed shut behind Fresk, Daisy whipped around to find Atom sitting in the same position he had before. The pilot’s broad shoulders slumped as he realized their plan had failed.

  “No dice?” he asked as he circled the couch and dropped back down in defeat.

  “Why would you say that?” Atom grinned and rose to his feet, minus a flimsy rubber shoe. “I would say we are right where we want to be at the moment. Come on and give me a hand.”

  Daisy perked. He hopped to his feet and followed Atom over to the dining room door and found the portal wedged open by Atom’s shoe. With the two of them working against the door hydraulics, they managed to pry the sliding wings back enough for Atom to worm an arm through and trigger the internal release.

  Standing in the door, Daisy followed Atom’s progress as the captain slipped his shoe back on and ghosted across the long dining room into the kitchen beyond.

  Lights sprang to life as Atom stepped across the threshold into the kitchen. He wasted no time in searching, instead took in the room with a single glance, found a magnetic knife rack, chose four carving blades, and ducked back through the dining hall before Daisy had time to question how he progressed.

  Without a word, Atom slapped the hatch closed. He handed two knives to Daisy, then slipped his own up his sleeves. Taking a last, surveying glance to ensure nothing had been missed, Atom resumed his seated position on the floor mat.

  They had just taken a moment to steady their breathing when the door to Warden James’ office hissed open and the warden stepped out. Atom started. Catching the look, Daisy whipped around to find the cause. Warden James stood looking at them with surprise on his face and his hand on his throat.

  Blood pulsed.

  He tried to gurgle a few words, then collapsed.

  Atom and Daisy sat frozen, uncertain as they stared at James’ twitching corpse. Swiveling without taking his eyes from the door, Daisy turned to Atom.

  “Is that part of the plan?” he asked.

  “We adapt.” Atom rose and slipped one of the knives from his sleeve. With cautious steps he stalked to the door and pasted himself to the wall just outside. He motioned Daisy to the far side of the portal.

  From within the darkened office, Atom made out the sounds of a struggle. Shaking his head as Daisy flanked the door, Atom plunged into the fray.

  Atom slid to a halt two steps inside the office and took in the scene. The office lay in scattered disorder. On the floor, Fresk wrestled with Toks Marshall. Fresk used her mass to pin the wiry woman down and slipped a beefy arm around her neck. Slithering onto her back, Fresk threw Toks off balance. Her arm constricted beneath Toks’ chin.

  Toks thrashed, but Fresk used the frantic motion to work deeper. As Toks fought against the arm, Fresk snaked her legs about the commander’s waist and arched back.

  Atom and Daisy looked on, uncertain of what to do.

  As they watched, Toks’ scrabbling hand found a long sliver of glass from a shattered lamp. Without hesitation, she jammed it into Fresk’s side.

  “Should we….” Daisy began to ask, but Atom laid a restraining hand on his arm.

  Fresk let out a muffled grunt as Toks pulled the makeshift blade out and stabbed again. Despite having less force than the first blow, the second wound proved too much. Fresk’s face rippled with shock and Toks squirmed out of the hold. Quick as a mongoose, Toks spun on her aggressor.

  Only then did Atom release Daisy.

  Without the grace of the grapplers on the floor, Daisy lashed out. With her attention focused on Fresk, Toks only registered her danger at the last moment. She tried to dodge, but Daisy’s massive paw locked on her neck. A quick twist of his shoulders and Toks flew across the room, slamming into the wall, and sliding down in a stunned heap.

  “Help her up,” Atom tossed his knives aside and crossed the short gap to Fresk’s prone form. He grabbed her under the arms and lifted her with greater ease than should have been possible for her solid bulk. Even with the
lighter grav in the station hub, Fresk should have been a challenge for Atom to even sit up, much less heft to her feet.

  Blood poured down Fresk’s side as Atom hop-stepped her towards the door.

  “We need to get her out of here now,” Atom snapped at Daisy. “I’ll explain later, but we need to get past those guards at the door somehow.”

  “The warden’s dead as a class-3,” Daisy said as he hustled to get an arm under Fresk’s opposite shoulder and almost upset Atom’s equilibrium. “She’s too light.”

  “Because she doesn’t have Fresk’s mass.”

  “Because of the low grav?”

  Atom shook his head as he laid Fresk down on the couch. Concern plastered his face. “Because she’s not the real Fresk.” Atom looked around the room for something to pack against the wound. “Find something to stop the bleeding.”

  “Wait, it’s Lilly?” Daisy asked as he disappeared back into the study.

  “That’s my educated guess.”

  A smile broke through the grey of her wan face. “Am I that transparent?” Lilly asked in Fresk’s high voice. Her breaths came in short, shallow gasps, but her eyes flashed with grim determination. “You move too slow. We need to be gone.”

  “Gone won’t help if you’re dead,” Atom snapped as Daisy ran back into the room with several torn strips of cloth and Toks’ jacket.

  With the skill of a practiced medoc, Atom packed the wound and snugged the long strips of material around Lilly’s thickened torso. A low moan escaped Lilly’s compressed lips. Examining the dressing with detached concern, Atom nodded in approval and then turned his attention to the narrow-shouldered jacket.

  He shook his head.

  “I don’t suppose you can shift under this kind of duress?” he asked, holding up the jacket.

  Lilly tried to laugh, but her eyes rolled back and her head drooped back into the couch.

  “How are we getting out of this?” A hard tone crept into Atom’s voice. “If we could get her to shift into Toks’ skin we could cover the wound and claim she came for a transfer.”