by K. A. Finn
'Yeah, but you have a better understanding of the implants. We need your help.'
Bray buries his head in his hands then looks back at Gryffin. 'I can't tell you how much I hate you for asking this of me.'
'These new cyborgs only exist because I do.' He beats a fist against the side of his head, making Bray jump. 'This thing in my head is the only way to stop this from happening over and over and over again. You know that.'
For the first time in a few days, Bray looks at Gryffin's now blue eye. 'You know more about my implants than anyone else on the station. This doesn't happen without you. I need your help to do this, Bray.' Gryffin takes a deep breath. 'I need my brother.'
Bray frowns as he looks at him. Gryffin saying he needs him and calling him brother in the same sentence? He must be hearing things. 'Excuse me?'
'There's no way in hell you're getting me to say that again. Will you help or not?'
Bray opens his mouth to speak, but his implant interrupts. He sucks in a breath as his eyesight flickers, sending the room in a visual spin. He presses his palm to his eyepiece, tasting blood as he bites the inside of his cheek. A few minutes later the pain subsides and he takes a long shaky breath.
He slowly opens his eyes and is surprised to see Gryffin crouched in front of him. 'You good?'
Bray nods. 'Just giving me a bit of a kick. How can you even consider more of this?'
'I'd get a hundred more implants if it means all this stops.'
Bray wants to argue with his logic but it's hard to when he completely agrees. 'Damn you.' Bray takes a deep breath and nods once. 'Have I mentioned how much I hate you?'
'Once or twice.' Gryffin's smile throws Bray straight into his past. For the first time since he found out the truth about who Gryffin is, he looks like the Daegan from the countless photographs covering every available surface in his old house. Instead of a forced smirk, he's getting a real smile and for some reason that just makes what he's agreed to so much worse.
DIXON SPACE STATION
Erin watches Bray and Gryffin leave the room and go their separate ways. Whatever they were talking about it was far from light-hearted. Both men look as if they have the weight of the world on their shoulders.
She waits a minute then takes a deep breath before following the Nomad leader down the corridor and around the corner. She catches up with him just outside the med bay.
'Captain, can I talk to you for a minute?'
Gryffin stops and looks over his shoulder briefly before turning away. She grabs his arm as he walks away from her. Gryffin glares down at her hand then back at her. 'You've got one chance to let go before I break your fucking arm.'
She drops her hand. 'I need to talk to you. In private or in the med bay. I don't care where, but I am going to talk to you.'
His purple eye zooms in on her but she doesn't flinch away. 'I'm in a fucking shit mood. Back off.'
'I'm saying my piece here in the corridor or in private, but I'm not backing off.'
'Fine.' Erin follows him into the med bay, determined to have her say whether in front of a room full of medical personnel or not but Gryffin clearly wants privacy. 'I need the room. Now!'
The personnel, a mix of Nomad and Dixon staff, decide not to push him. They leave what they're doing and in less than a minute have gone to the adjoining room. Gryffin turns to face her and crosses his arms.
Erin relaxes slightly at his posture. If he's on the defensive already, she's got the upper hand. 'Thank—'
'What do you want?' he interrupts.
'You know who I am?'
'Yes.'
'I was kind of hoping you'd say no to that. Not sure what I did to deserve all this hostility. We're family.'
Gryffin doesn't respond, just stands in the centre of the room with his arms crossed. Erin pauses as she composes herself. Bray was right. Gryffin is without a doubt the most infuriating man to try and have a conversation with.
The Daegan she remembers from her childhood was always talking, joking, and laughing. She looks up at his face and an invisible hand squeezes her throat. Gryffin isn't Daegan. Not anymore. Her fun-loving cousin was torn apart and Gryffin is what's left after the Scientist and the Nomad were done with him.
'My father, Morgan. He's struggling with everything that's happening.' She lowers onto the edge of the nearest bed, but Gryffin remains motionless in front of her. 'He lost both his nephews and his sister in the space of a few years. Now you and Bray are back and he found out what that Scientist guy did to Maggie... I know he has so many questions only you can answer.'
Gryffin drops his arms to his side and scowls at her. 'No.'
'I'm asking for you to spend five minutes with him. Just answer a few questions. Clear up a few things for him about his sister... and about you.'
Gryffin shakes his head and walks towards the door.
'Daegan.'
He stops in his tracks and spins around faster than she thought possible. 'Forget that fucking name,' he growls.
She stands up, and storms over to him. 'No. That's your name. To us you're still Daegan. I'm sorry if, for whatever reason that makes you angry, or irritated, or whatever. Denying who you are isn't helping anyone. Whether you like it or not, you have a family and we care about you. We love you, Daegan.'
'I'm not denying who I am. My name is Gryffin, Captain of Ares and Former High Commander of the Nomad. That's my full title and apart from Captain or sir, that's all I answer to. You and your father need to get that. Daegan died on that transport. You can't get answers from a corpse.'
She laughs humourlessly. 'That's not the way it works. You're standing in front of me. You honestly expect me not to ask you questions, not to be curious about what happened to you, about where you've been all these years? You may not remember me or the rest of our family, or you may not want to remember, but we were all close. You and Bray were like brothers to me. We used to spend a lot of time together.'
His fist clenches tightly as his eye glows. 'Stop talking.'
'You don't scare or intimidate me. In my Foundation position I've heard a lot about you. The Nomad, Ares, and her captain were detailed in a lot of security reports over the last few weeks. I get why people are intimidated by you, but it won't work on me.
‘I remember you pushing me on my swing and trying to steal my lunch if I wasn't eating fast enough.' She takes her personal unit from her pocket and holds it towards him. 'This is us with Shayla, my mother. Look at the picture!'
Gryffin glances down at it and frowns. Erin flicks to the next photo - this one of just Shayla. Something in his expression rings alarm bells. He recognises her. She's positive of it. 'You know her, don't you?'
'We're done.' He storms through the door, leaving her staring after him.
NEMESIS
Milla logs the details from Creed's results and puts the unit down. 'Well, you're in tip-top condition, High Commander. Wow, that sounds strange. Sorry, I didn't mean that in a bad way. It's just Gryffin's always been the High Commander... well, as long as I've known him.'
'Sounds strange to me too.' He pulls on his shirt and brushes his hair back in a ponytail. 'So, you okay about all this?'
Milla sits on the edge of her desk and shuts the computer down. 'About you? Of course. I trust Gryffin. If he wants you to take over then you must be the right Nomad for the job. Well, unless you're thinking of reversing his woman allowed rule.'
Creed laughs and shakes his head. 'Absolutely not. Hardy would kick my ass. He did the right thing when he scrapped that rule. Rayde kept the Nomad in the dark for too long.'
'Was he really as bad as I've heard? Rayde I mean.'
'It's a hard one to explain. When the Nomad began, they had to fight fucking hard to be taken seriously. The way they attacked, the ruthlessness, the ferocity - it was all to make a point. When Rayde moved up the ranks he kept it up. Then Gryffin arrived and he passed the tradition on. There wasn't any room for weakness. Gryffin struggled so much adapting to being away from the station
where we found him. I'm not excusing it for a fucking second, but Rayde raised him the only way he knew how.
'I remember going to check on him after one of his training sessions. Rayde had made him kill a prisoner with his bare hands then locked him back in his room. It was a few years after he'd joined the ship. Gryffin was sitting on the floor, covered in blood, shaking.' Creed flashes her a tight smile. 'No surprise Gryffin ended up the way he did.'
'Wow. Between that and selling out Gryffin to the Foundation I'm not surprised Gryffin killed him the way he did.'
He sighs and clasps his hands together on his knees. 'I loved being a Nomad from the second I stepped on board Ares, but Rayde slowly picked apart everything that was good in the group. We were never law abiding by any stretch. We weren't thugs though. Not at first anyway. Can't say I'm broken hearted Gryffin snapped his neck.'
'So you were on board when Gryffin was found?'
Creed looks up at Milla and blows out a long breath. 'Yeah. I was with Rayde when we found the station. We were on our way back to Ares when Rayde found him. Never will forget that place. No matter how much I try and believe me, I've tried damn hard. It's always there unless I have one too many ales,' he adds with a flat laugh.
'What was it—'
'Best you don't finish that sentence, Milla.'
'Why not?'
'Because I'd have to tell you, so I'm begging you not to ask. I may remember, but putting it in to words... well, best you don't ask, please.'
'Of course. Sorry for prying.'
Creed shakes his head and rubs his hands on his legs. 'You weren't prying. There aren't many still around who were on the station, but believe me, some things should stay in the past. Besides, if we don't sort out this Foundation mess, we could be finding more stations like that. Don't know about you but I'm not so keen on that happening.'
He pulls out his comms unit and reads the message. 'That's Chayse. We're here. Let's go see what toys the Foundation have for us.'
30
DIXON SPACE STATION
Gryffin steps into the office to face two very surprised Dixons. The couple stop their conversation and stare at him. 'Captain?'
'We need to talk. In private.'
Felix gestures to the couch opposite them. 'We were wondering when you'd want to meet one-on-one. Have a seat.'
Gryffin sits on the large leather couch as Evie busies herself with the drink dispenser behind the twin desks. While she's making drinks, Felix rests his feet on his desk and scrutinises Gryffin. 'So, young man. From the brief conversations we've had with your crew, can we assume they do not know of our past interactions?'
'No. I kept that between us. They don't need to know. Still don't.'
Evie smiles as she passes a mug of steaming tea to Felix. She offers one to Gryffin, but he refuses. Evie takes a sip and rests the cup on her knee. 'We are in full agreement, aren't we dear?'
'Too right we are,' Felix answers. 'Like you, we like to keep the different sides of our business separate. Keeps things simple.'
Evie nods and brings the tea to her lips again. 'I must say, Captain. You are far from what I imagined after our numerous conversations. I thought you'd be a lot older. You must be in your late twenties, early thirties at the most.'
'You don't strike me as the ruthless handler types either. Guess we're both disappointed.'
'Disappointed is not a word we'd use to describe our dealings with you, Captain,' Felix says as he crosses his arms. 'You are without a doubt the best mercenary we've had the pleasure to work with. You've made us a lot of money. And I believe working with us helped fund a new battleship. A pretty impressive one if all accounts are accurate. So why all the secrecy from your side? Why not tell the crew where you were getting the credits from?'
'They knew I was doing some clean-up work. I just didn't mention the details. That's the whole point, isn't it?'
'Very true.' The Dixon's fall silent as they look at him. 'So, Captain. Why the meeting? Not that we aren't happy to discuss work with you, but something tells me you are troubled.'
Gryffin readjusts his leg as he gets his thoughts in order. Working with the Dixon's over the years had helped get Nemesis off the ground and put food on their plates. Trading and protecting the colonies was the main income for the Nomad, but when there's a battleship to fund, he needed to go down a different path.
A contact had put him in touch with the Dixon's and he started working for them on the side. They never met in person, just relayed the target through a series of convoluted channels and the Nomad got a healthy cut of the fee. He had only taken about a dozen jobs through them, but had always found them reliable. Seeing them in the flesh, he still can't match the couple he was dealing with to the couple sitting in front of him.
'Do you want us to line up some work for you?' Felix asks, looking slightly concerned at the idea.
'I can't do a job right now.'
Evie laughs and shakes her head. 'Oh good gracious boy. That's a relief and one impressive understatement. I dare say even I'd be able to escape your clutches if you came after me like you are now. After we upgrade you however... well, that's a different story.'
Gryffin doesn't bother commenting on that, He'd prefer not to think about how he could be used to kill people once he's been upgraded. 'I need to speak to you about a job from a few years ago. Reliant-Five transport.'
Felix holds up a finger silencing him as he taps on the desk in front of him. A few seconds later the file for the job appears on a glass screen suspended to the side of the room. They both take a few seconds to familiarise themselves with the details.
'I remember this one,' Evie mutters as she reads. 'One of our contacts heard about a shipment of weapons that was winging its way to a Foundation outpost close to the border. We got in touch and you were able to intercept the transport. The job was a success as I remember. Then again, I believe all your jobs were successful.'
'I killed three people on the transport.'
'Yes, unfortunate, but you wouldn't have killed them unless you had no other option.'
'Can you call up the Foundation file for Morgan Richards. Family members.'
Felix raises his eyebrow but does as requested. An image of Morgan, Erin, and a woman fills the screen. 'Morgan, Shayla, and Erin Richards. Shayla is deceased. Died in a...' Felix and Evie read the rest of the report then flick back to the data from the Reliant-Five job. Felix mutters under his breath as he calls up more information.
A list of the fatalities from the attack on the transport appears next, and the Dixon's both freeze. It takes a few seconds for Felix's fingers to come back to life again. He lines up the data side-by-side and curses loudly.
'Captain, you killed your aunt. And we paid you to do it.'
ARES
Terra wanders through Ares in a daze. She doesn't want to go back to the station and risk another helpful chat with Evie, but she doesn't really want to be here either. Ares is a maze of corridors, but she'd bump into Gryffin sooner or later. The way she's feeling right now, later would be preferable.
She kicks a doorway before stepping through to the adjoining corridor. Ares is her home. She can't imagine being anywhere else, but that's because Gryffin's here. Once he is upgraded who knows what condition he'll be in. She seriously doubts they'll be sharing a room let alone a bed.
She climbs the stairs to the upper command deck as quietly as she can. The one thing about this ship is that it's noisy. Every footstep echoes, every movement sends groans and creaks through her metalwork no matter how quiet Terra tries to be. At the top of the stairs Terra breathes a sigh of relief. No sign of Gryffin. Instead, Desyl is working on the bank of units at the front of the deck, muttering to himself.
'Hey. Do you have a minute?'
Desyl glances up at Terra then shakes his head before focusing on the screen in front of him again. 'Not now, sorry. I've got loads to get through.'
Terra stops beside him and examines the station he is intently staring at. 'Weapo
ns check?'
He nods. 'No point attacking Earth with handguns. We need everything working.'
She leans against the railing and silently watches him. He's always been one to get deep in his work, but this is a bit much. It's blatantly obvious he's avoiding making eye contact with her. 'Okay, what's he said to you?'
'Sorry?'
'Desyl, I'm not an idiot. If you concentrate on that reading much longer you'll give yourself a nose bleed. What did Gryffin say to you?'
He sighs and looks across at her. 'He didn't say anything to me. I just don't think there's any point going over it.'
'Excuse me?'
'I know you, Terra. I know you want to talk about his decision, but it's a done deal. Now, I really have to finish this. He needs me to help look for parts in a bit.'
Terra chews her bottom lip as she clamps her hands around the railing. 'So you're just going to ignore the issue and keep your mouth shut?'
Desyl doesn't respond, turning his attention back to the console again.
'He's going ahead with this and you're refusing to talk to me about it. I thought you were my friend?'
Desyl sighs and rests his hands on the screen as he turns his head towards her. 'Low blow, Terra. I am your friend, but this is different.'
'How is it different?'
'Look, I get this isn't what any of us want, Gryffin included.' He points a finger at her dismissive expression. 'Gryffin too. You have to see that. We all know how he feels about his implants. You really think he'd consider getting more work done if there was another way? There is no other option, Terra. Can't you see that?' Desyl scrubs his hand over his hair and shakes his head. 'He's dying, Terra. Let him go out fighting. He deserves that much at least.'
'I get that, okay. That doesn't mean I have to be happy about it. I wasn't expecting to lose my boyfriend and my friend because of it.'
Desyl slams his hand down on the screen, startling her. 'He's my Captain, Terra and I'll follow his orders no matter what. I'm already on my last fucking life with him. There's no way I'm going to disrespect him again. If he wants to be upgraded, I'll help him. No questions. No arguments. No discussions. I'm certainly not going to talk about his decision with anyone other than him. It's his fucking body.'