Trinity: Atom & Go

by Zach Winderl

  “What do you say, Lilly?” he asked without taking his eyes from Toks.

  “I say,” she deliberated, looking first to one and then the other of her suitors, “I’ll stick with the enemy I know.”

  At her words, the night exploded in a heartbeat

  The broad hangar hatch slid open and her ship flared to life like a bright, evening star. Heat and light drove through the hatch in a blinding fusion.

  The pram juked sideways as a wild shot whispered through the void. In that moment of chaos, Atom fired. His shot, unsteady through his pain, punched through the armor where the leg joined the torso, driving Toks back a step.

  Shi’s ladies began barking at the armored figure.

  Anticipating the assault, Toks whipped her arms up to shield her face from the barrage. The bullets bounced harmlessly into the night. As if in response to the gunfire, her gunship dropped on the bubble, punching a hole in the roof and crushing down on the depot outside the hangar hatch. Toks lurched towards the ship just as Atom’s second shot missed and punched through the dropping ramp of her ship.

  Controlling the pram in its wild slide to the side, Kozue dropped a missile from the undercarriage. The pocket rocket hovered for a fraction of a second as it oriented on the new arrival and then flared to life in a short streak of fire.

  The explosion tore one of the four engines from its mount and threw everyone from their feet.

  In that moment, assisted by her power armor, Toks managed to stagger up the ramp. Without waiting to button up, the pilot lurched the ship into the night sky. Like a dragonfly missing a wing, the ship scraped through the hab hole and wandered toward the horizon where it lifted through the thin atmosphere and disappeared into the Black.

  Lilly’s ship powered down.

  Atom lay on his back, allowing the icy soil to dampen the fire within.

  From her back, Shi continued to fire into the night sky until her guns ran dry. She continued to pull the trigger, hammers falling on empty chambers with a sharp click in the silent night.

  “Easy, girl,” Atom mumbled. “They’re gone.”

  She continued to pull, her face locked in a grimace of agony.

  Only when Margo laid her small hand on Shi’s cheek did the gunslinger’s eyes drift back into focus.

  “How’d y’all git outa yer pram, lass?” Shi sat up and looked around in confusion.

  “Climb,” Margo stated. “Dada hurt.”

  “Aye, lass.” Shi clambered to her feet and extended a helping hand to Lilly. The baug took the assistance and then shook her head to clear the explosion. “Gimme a hand with him. It’ll take two of us to git him back to the tavern. I don’t s’pose the people’ll be too happy about a hole in their sky.

  “Koze, call in the Ticket,” Shi said as she and Lilly managed to haul Atom to his feet. “We’re going to need to fire up the medoc again.”

  ***

  Atom grimaced as he flexed his arm and rolled his shoulder. The knit skin pulled against the stretching. Sitting on Byron’s workbench in the bowels of the One Way Ticket, he looked over at Hither. She ignored the questioning glance, instead focusing on the range of movement and the readouts scrolling across her handheld screen.

  “It would seem the medoc knows its business,” she frowned. “The shoulder will be tender for a week or so, but the muscle has knit nicely and the machine replicated the lost bone.

  “Be careful with it.” She locked eyes with him. “It’s fragile.”

  “What’s the worst that could happen, the muscle tears or the bone fractures? Isn’t that why we have the medoc?”

  “It is, but remember, it’s not so much reinjuring the shoulder as what you’re doing when you injure it again. You could be climbing and rip it. That shoulder won’t support you. What happens if you pull with your injured arm and it’s a touch slower on the draw than it should be?” Hither laid a warm hand on his bare skin. “You have to keep that in mind. Also, what happens if you are trying to lift me from a bottomless chasm? Would you drop me?”

  “I’ll just use my right hand.” Atom grinned.

  Hither glared and shoved him back as he tried to rise. “If you get me killed because you didn’t listen, I’m going to come back and haunt you.”

  “Will you be wearing clothes?”

  He yelped as she grabbed his shoulder and dug her thumb into the freshly healed wound. “Don’t play.” Her sweet smile bore an underlying hardness that gave Atom pause.

  “Fine,” he grumbled. “I’ll take care. Can I put my shirt on now?”

  Hither nodded.

  Slipping down from the bench, he pulled his shirt over his head and hissed as the muscles protested. Hither reached up and helped, trying to ease the shirt down with the least amount of torque on his shoulder. She held out his over-shirt and helped him slip into it before worrying at the buttons in a distracted manner.

  “What’s on your mind?” Atom took over for her and finished running the buttons.

  “Just thinking on this job.” She stepped back to survey the upper level of the workshop, dropping her voice. “I don’t trust the direction it’s heading. I know we usually have people gunning for us, but this feels different. We don’t usually work with those that mean us death.”

  “I know.” Atom shrugged into his coat with a grimace. “But the other option is walk away from potential.”

  “Level with me, this isn’t the haul to end all?”

  “I don’t think there’s one of those in all the Fingers.”

  “Then you’re on this boat to the death?”

  “Mine or theirs. I don’t know that there is a real alternative. I know things can’t go back to the way they were, but I need to eliminate that threat before I can have any hope of normalcy for Margo.”

  “And you don’t think this life is damaging?”

  Atom’s face warmed with a sad smile. “We are all damaged, but we can choose to rise above or let the damage drag us down. Someday that will be her legacy.

  “Back on this job, I don’t full trust Lilly. I know she’s in this for the money and she’ll take that vector at any cost, but I don’t see her turning on us unless we come between her and that goal. She’s a merc. There isn’t anything personal about it.”

  “And the contract?”

  “It’s on the table now. We’ll cross that void when we come to it.” Atom motioned for her to follow as he headed for the hold. “In the meantime, we know Toks has it in for us. She wants the money, but I think she genuinely wants to eliminate us at this point. We’ve compounded the personal for her with the knock out and shooting.”

  “Our best bet would be to eliminate her before she gets her real chance at us.” Hither linked arms with Atom and wandered. “But we need to wait until she takes off the captain’s hat. She’s under imp protection when she hides behind her uniform. I don’t need to tell you what happens if we attack her unprovoked.

  “Universal death,” she said with a chuckle.

  “It’s a good thing we’ve never had to deal with that before.” Atom grinned.

  “What’s the play?”

  Atom shrugged and said, “Complete the job we’ve been hired to do and see where it takes us.”

  As they entered the hold, they found Lilly and Byron running around the parked Hellkite, playing with Margo. The girl’s delighted giggles echoed through the empty space as she tried to catch the other two. Dancing just out of reach, they both grinned with the joy of forgotten worries.

  Atom watched with a relaxed smile playing over his features.

  Looking at his face and realizing the good there, Hither reached over and squeezed his hand before mounting the steps to the upper level. She hesitated on the upper landing for a moment before nodding and disappearing into the hallway.

  Atom absorbed.

  The game continued a few more slow laps as Margo’s toddler legs sought to keep up with the other two. Lilly noticed Atom standing near the doorway first and even though she continued the game, her st
ance stiffened. Byron remained oblivious to Atom’s presence until Margo caught sight of her father.

  “Dada,” she squealed and ran into his arms.

  “Fiver.” He closed his eyes and breathed in her scent. He relaxed.

  “Atom, what’s our next jump?” Lilly approached like a skittish deer, hesitant to break the moment of familial embrace.

  Atom opened his eyes like someone rising from a pleasant dream.

  “I have a job I’ve committed to.” He shifted Margo down to sit on his hip. “It’s not too far off our course to the Nemo System, so I figured we earn some coin to cover the fuel costs.”

  Pursing her lips in thought, Lilly studied Atom’s face. “You’re serious,” she stated with slow understanding. “We have potential limitless wealth at our fingertips and you’re sidetracking to cover fuel? What if Toks beats us to the coords? Are you willing to pass up a head start?”

  Lilly kept her voice level and despite the emotion that strained at her stance, Atom sensed her willingness to understand before acting.

  “Walk with me,” Atom said as he turned towards the stairs and called back to his mech. “Byron, round up the others for a quick meet at the table.”

  The captain kept silent until he took his seat at the head of the table. He nodded to the narrow galley, but Lilly shook her head. When she declined, he turned his attention to Margo. He seated her on the edge of the table with her feet resting on his legs. Margo grinned and reached over to tickle Atom under the chin.

  For the moment, Margo encompassed Atom’s universe.

  Lilly looked on, her expression somewhere between disbelief and longing.

  She coughed and Atom glanced over to her, the spell of solitude broken.

  “About what Toks said….” she trailed off, her eyes on the table.

  “About the contract on your head?”

  Lilly puzzled a slow nod. “Where does that leave us?”

  Atom stared at her long enough that Margo turned to look at Lilly as well. “It leaves us in the same position as when we met. There is a second bounty on your head.”

  “And you took it?”

  “I didn’t turn it down. Figured it was safer than doubling Toks' reason to come for you.”

  “I’ll ask again,” said Lilly as she narrowed her eyes to study Atom’s face. “Where does that leave us?”

  “Stand-off. We both have reasons to kill each other and reasons to let the other live. For the moment, none of those reasons seem to outweigh our mutual interest of trying to track down this ship. There’s a treasure that could make all our contention moot. Plus, way I see it, we find this ship and you buy out the bounty. Problem solved.”

  Lilly sat in silence, her eyes locked with Atom’s.

  After a few moments, the crew filtered in and seated themselves around the table. More than a few questioning glances rested on Lilly.

  “You all know the score.” Atom spun Margo and nestled her into his lap with a protective arm draped across her middle. “We have a treasure, a job, and a potential score docked in our hangar. You also know our routine.

  “Except you Lilly,” Atom said with a nod to the baug, but held up a hand for patience. “To settle things up for you, on any matters of money, we vote. If there is a tie, Kozue votes, otherwise, our path is settled at the table. I’m captain in matters of combat and the ship, but we are a unit outside that.

  “It might seem odd, but I figured from the moment I brought this crew together, that they were here for a reason and as their lives rest on the block too often, they should have a say in how that’s to play out.

  “That said, we have a decision to make here and now.” Atom paused to take stock of his crew, finally resting his gaze on Lilly. “Unfortunately, you aren’t crew so you don’t get a vote on our course, but I will give you time to plead your case should you see fit. I can’t rationalize putting my crew in a position to not have their trajectories covered, so we all hear what the options are and then we decide where to fly.”

  Lilly scowled, but nodded in understanding.

  “Three options sit out in the Black. They’re waiting for us.” As Atom spoke, his eyes dropped to the table and a frown tugged at his mouth. “Our first option is to burn straight for the treasure. It’s not a bad option and I’m sensing it’s the most appealing option for Lilly.

  “Table is yours, Lilly,” he said.

  Lilly rose from her seat and paced out to the center of the galley before turning to face the others. “I’ve been after this treasure for years now,” she began, crossing her arms as she chose her words with care. “If I had a choice, I’d rather not split it with any of you, but seeing as the Maker saw fit to pass on vital information to your captain, I don’t have much choice if I have a hope of seeing any of the treasure.

  “That said, I don’t see why we waste a single cycle without grabbing what’s ours. I’ll not force your hands, but with or without you, I’m heading for that treasure.

  “Do you have any notion of what’s on that ship?” Hither asked.

  Lilly straightened and glared down at the table without making eye contact with anyone. “No.” Her whisper lifted just over the air cycler.

  With slumped shoulders, she drifted from the galley.

  “Do any of us?” Hither demanded, turning her attention back to the others.

  “Does it matter?” Shi leaned on the table, cupping her chin in her hands. “Way I see it, no harm in sketchin’ the layout. Worst we see is a new system, scout some stock in trade. I hear this Nemo System’s a glut on scrap.”

  “Especially ‘at far outside the lanes,” Byron chirped with a juvenile grin. “Low prices.”

  “What are the other two options?” Daisy leaned back, folding his arms and fixing Atom with a steady gaze.

  “Second option, we take the first job offered by Alderon Pips. That should bump our accounts and leave us a cushion in case the trip out past the skins leave us empty hold. Third option is we ignore the siren call and carry about our normal business.”

  “I hate to say it, but there’s still the fourth option.” Daisy dropped his eyes to the table.

  “I don’t want to cross that void yet.”

  Byron looked back and forth between the two. “Say it negs,” he pleaded.

  “We could cash the bounty on her head,” said Daisy.

  “Atom,” Kozue interrupted the discussion. “The airlock has cycled.”

  Atom looked to the others in alarm.

  “Don’t worry, she is using one of the void suits and her ship remains powered down. Ash has not departed the Hellkite either.”

  “You should talk to her,” Hither said, looking to Atom with concern. “I think she’s caught in a lonely situation with hostiles on six vectors. Even though she doesn’t trust us, I think she is trusting that we are at least allies in this search for the treasure.

  “We need to decide what we’re doing and not string this girl along any further than she has already been led.” Hither slipped from her seat. “With all the options floating around this table, I’m going to vote for the second, fill the coffers and burn for the treasure. I don’t think we can pass up the possibility that something there sets us for life. If we load up before we head out, chances are we don’t get caught without pants in the Black.”

  Hither swept her gaze around the table, then with a nod, she plucked Margo from Atom’s lap and strolled from the galley.

  “Any other thoughts?” Atom asked.

  “I’s shootin’ fer a straighty burn, but ‘ivver makes a point.” Byron shrugged. “All I knows is we en’t entertainin’ Daisy’s pan drippin’s, are we?” Byron’s eyes widened as he searched the table for a negative answer.

  Nobody met his eyes.

  “We’ll park that in orbit for the time,” Atom said, lifting his gaze. “In the meantime, how do you vote?”

  Daisy held up two fingers.

  Shi waited for Byron to hold up two fingers before she followed suit.

  Ato
m slapped the table. “Two it is. Daisy, plot a course for Kafiristan, but wait until we’re off the float to burn.”

  ***

  The airlock in the ship’s belly always plagued Atom with a sense of vertigo as he stepped from the ship’s gravity into the null-g like a swimmer dropping into a pool. His momentum allowed him to drift down the ten feet to the far hatch, where he doubled over to grab a handhold and swing about.

  Settling into the directionless land of the Black, he took a deep, steadying breath and listened to the hiss of air as the hatch cycled behind him.

  “She’s still out there?” Atom asked on a private channel.

  “Firm,” Kozue replied.

  “Am I doing the right thing?”

  “Speaking as your wife, I believe you are approaching your decisions cautiously. That is the best course of action for the protection of Margo. As your ship’s AI, I would disagree. Calculating probability says there is likely no treasure to be had and therefore you are needlessly putting all lives at risk by venturing beyond the safety of the shipping lanes.

  “Furthermore, there is an even higher probability that Lilly betrays you after the knowledge that there is another bounty on her head.”

  “I meant going after Lilly right now,” Atom replied. “I was asking if she needed the alone time and if I was stepping over an unspoken line.”

  “Oh, in that case, most definitely. But she also needs your reassurance at this moment. In fact,” Kozue hesitated. “Chances of betrayal significantly drop if you go out and demonstrate that she is an ad hoc member of this crew.”

  “That’s reassuring,” Atom chuckled as the outer doors slipped open in null-silence.

  “Lilly,” he called out on the open channel. “I’m coming out. Do you mind the company?”

  No reply came over the coms. Atom clipped to a handhold just outside the door and floated out into the Black. He spun in a slow circle a couple inches above the ship’s skin, searching until he found Lilly. In silence, she floated near the prow of the ship, her boot tips poised against the hull.

  Atom floated towards her, using the ship’s myriad handholds to climb in the right direction. As he approached, he clipped into her hold and remotely disengaged the previous line.