Chapter 2: Chapter 1 – Part 2

Wren looked up from the index with a glint in her eye, and pushed the final button.  In the corner of the frame, a door on the far end of the hold opened up.  She smirked as she re-engaged the PA system, and leaned forward.

 

“Are you still there?”

 

No response, and no movement.  The redhead had retreated somewhere the cameras couldn’t find her.

 

“I thought you might be getting hungry, so I put some food through that door.”

 

“In the airlock?”

 

“It’s chocolate frosted cake!”

 

“Very funny.”

 

Wren smiled softly to herself, and followed the instructions to shut the door again.

 

“Good to know I’m stuck in here with a sadist.”

 

“Funny you should mention that.”

 

“Funny how?”  Strain in the redhead’s voice.

 

“I couldn’t help but notice, when you were trying to punch your way through my door earlier, you were favoring your right side.”

 

“So?”

 

“Well, the resolution on these cameras is crazy good.  I had no idea how good, actually, until I was trying to look at you.  Like I can zoom all the way in.  It’s really neat.”

 

“滚蛋!” shouted the voice.  “How about this?  Can you see this?”

 

Wren frowned and stared, and then cycled through the hold cameras again.  On the fifth camera, she saw a hand sticking out from behind a few boxes with the middle finger extended.

 

“I can, actually.”

 

“Good for you.”

 

“Short story long, I saw the blood on your shirt there.”

 

“...and?”

 

“And have you been shot recently?”

 

No answer.

 

“It looked like you’ve been shot, and I couldn’t see an exit wound.”

 

No answer.

 

“So here’s the thing.  I don’t know who you are and I don’t know how you got on my ship, so there’s kind of a trust thing going on that’s preventing me from just helping you outright.”

 

“I didn’t ask for your help.”

 

“Well, I’m kind of already doing it.”

 

“Doing what?”

 

“There’s a greater than zero percent chance that I’ve been having the recycling system pump pure nitrogen into the cargo hold for the better part of an hour.  I’m not sure if you’re feeling it yet, but you will pretty soon.”

 

“You’re cutting off my oxygen?!”

 

“A little, yeah.”

 

“That’s fucking psychotic.”

 

“A little, yeah.”  Wren took another bite of cereal and leaned forward.  “Thing is, I’m not steppin’ in they-uh unwess I’m sho-wah you-wah unconshus.”

 

“Are you eating right now?”

 

“You’re gonna wanna step out in fwont of one of the camewas so I can watch you pass out.”

 

“Oh my god, you are a sadist!”

 

“Listen.  If you want to suffocate in they-uh...” Wren paused to swallow.  “Be my guest.  Oxygen deprivation is a pretty easy cleanup, all things considered.  If you want me to take care of that bullet in your side, though...”

 

“Is there a doctor on board?”

 

“Nope.”

 

“Medic?”

 

“Nope.”

 

“Is it just you?”

 

“Yup.”

 

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“Have you ever removed a bullet before?”

 

“Nope.”

 

“他妈的!”

 

Wren took another bite of cereal and watched.

 

“I hope I’m not interrupting your meal time or anything.”

 

“No no,” Wren said, mouth still half-full.  “We’ve got time.  That’s a big room, so thinning out the oxygen is gonna take a while.  I think.”

 

“This is so fucked up!”

 

“Do you want to tell me how you got shot?”

 

No answer.

 

“How about why you’re on my ship?”

 

No answer.

 

“How about how you got on my ship?”

 

No answer.  After a few seconds, the redhead’s hand popped out again with the middle finger extended.

 

“Ok.  Your funeral.”

 

Wren sat back and propped her feet up as she dug deeper into her bowl.

 

“我肏.”

 

“It’s cool that you speak Chinese.”

 

“你做?”

 

Wren frowned, inferring from tone that there was a question in there she couldn’t answer.

 

“啊呀!无知的虐待女人!我肏!”

 

A few more minutes passed.  Wren referred to the index one more time, changing it so that the PA played throughout the rest of the ship, and went down into the galley to clean up.

 

“Are you still there?”

 

“I’m not sure if the mic can pick me up from—”

 

“Hey!  Are you still there!?

 

“Guess not,” Wren mumbled.

 

“Hey!”

 

“Hey, I moved in front of the camera, alright?!”

 

“I’m here!  Hey!  Hey, you fucking psycho!”

 

***

 

Wren stood at the bulkhead door, just outside of the hold, dressed almost completely in her exosuit —minus the helmet, which was tucked under her arm— and tapped through one of the control menus.  She got the video feed to come up, and sure enough the redhead was sitting glumly in front of the third camera.

 

“Can you hear me now?” Wren said.

 

No response.

 

She frowned and changed a few settings.

 

“How about now?”

 

“我的妈呀!” the redhead rasped, head lifting a little.

 

“Hey!  Alright!  Finally!”

 

“I can... I can barely...”

 

“Hey.  Real quick.  Before you pass out.  When you were shot, was it someone you knew?”

 

The redhead looked up in confusion.

 

“Like a friend?”

 

“Yeah.“  The redhead’s chest rose and fell quickly, but her eyes drooped.  “ Yeah, it was... it...”

 

“Good enough.  See you on the other side.”

 

The redhead slumped back against the rack behind her, and that was all Wren needed to see.

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