Page 25 of Sol Survivor

Year: 2219

Deadweed

VicsteppedinsideLeviathan,and the stench of old sweed hit her.It tweaked her nose even as nostalgia snatched her breath.The customers turned as one, watching her stride to the bar behind which stood Cleg, older but none the smarter.

“Vic?”He arched a bushy eyebrow, sneaking glances between her and the holo announcing her death.So, that’s how they want to play it?She snorted.The images showed her spinning full circle amid ticker tape stats and past kills.She had to admit that the last decade had treated her well.The holo of her was from the deathmatch.

“You haven’t seen me, Cleg.”Vic faced the room.“None of you have.I’m popping in to visit Ren, then I’m gone.”

“What do you want with my pa?”Junior rose, his lank body as shriveled as she remembered.

She smiled, delighted for something to have gone her way.Nudging her head toward the door, she asked him in a genteel manner to meet her outside.He hesitated, and she didn’t blame him.Anyone with a little intelligence would expect death at her skilled hands, yet he scurried out the door just as Jolson burst in.The sight of him ripped a fresh hole through her.Sharp pain pierced and throbbed, cinching her chest with renewed anger.

“Cursed hell, Vic.When they said you’d arrived, I couldn’t believe it.”He strode forward as if to hug her, but she dodged his sweeping arms and kneed him in the groin.With an animalistic howl, he crumpled to the floor.

“I’m in a good mood on account of Junior, so I won’t maim you for betraying me, Trev.For a man who claimed to care for me as his future whore, you stood by and let the Ring take me.”In a dramatic show of power, she curled and unfurled her left hand then gripped Trev by the jaw, lifting his coiled body, his feet dangling inches off the floor.“I’m enhanced as of yesterday.If I find out anyone betrayed me again to Carne or the Ring, I’ll return with death in mind.”

She dropped Trev and strode around him, heading for the shielded heat outside and a waiting Junior.He leaned against his battered skid-car, as if the filtered sunlight didn’t bake the sweat onto his forehead.She made a beeline for him, ignoring the gathering audience.

“What’s this about?”Junior asked, his shuffling feet casting up miniature dust clouds in his nervousness.

“I want to sell Millie’s to your pa.Ma left the deed to me when she died.I don’t think she trusted…” Vic grimaced, unable to call her father Pa or by his name.Just trying pooled bile at the back of her throat.“How much are you willing to offer?”

“It’s worth fifty,” he said.

“It’s worth a hundred, but I’ll sell it to you for ten.”

“What, why?”He threw out his hands as if to decline a too-good-to-be-true, once-in-a-lifetime deal, as if she swindled him.

“You were honest enough to start at a decent amount, expecting to barter upward.I want the blood price my…the Ring gave my…” She leveled a glower on Junior.“Take it or leave it.”

“I’ll take it, shit, hell yeah.”He fist-pumped the air like a juvenile.

While waiting for Junior to activate his band, she did the same, holding it out for him to swipe his arm across hers and make the payment.A buzz up her arm confirmed receipt.She scanned hers over his, transferring the deed.“Good.I have one more favor.”She cast a longing glance at her sol-cycle.“She’s yours if you give me a ride to Armstrong Station and deny ever taking me there.”

“You’re going off-world?”

She arched an irritated brow.Junior paled and hurried to clip her…hissol-cycle to the back of the skid-car.She jumped into the car and stowed her carry-all at her feet while he took the driving seat.

“Can you handle city traffic?”

He frowned but powered up, shooting across the sand at a steady clip.His destination wasn’t to the city but the highest point in the dunes.It had a different name many years ago, but they called it Stubborn Rock now.He hid the sol-cycle in its shadow and turned them for Armstrong Station.The sky-tower rose as a white beacon on the horizon.

“At the bottom of the deed is my lawyer’s details.He’ll handle any issues my p…” She grimaced.“He’s expecting your call.”

Junior nodded and nibbled on his bottom lip as if he wanted to say something but wasn’t confident enough.He drew in a deep breath and pushed out the words.“Leave Earth, just like that?”He sliced a glance at her, his brown eyes boring into hers.“They’ll juice you with nano-creatures and…what if you’re tossed out of the ship for insubordination, Vic?”

“Then I die,” she said, with a shrug.It wasn’t as if she hadn’t faced life-and-death situations in the arena.

Junior hitched a thumb behind him, gesturing to Deadweed.“Why do they think you’re dead?”

“Makes it easier for them to hunt me down.I’m reported as alive?That’s big news, cheap publicity.If they find and kill me, then no one’s the wiser.”

His Adam’s Apple bobbed.“You ain’t scared?”

“I was when they bought me.”She looked away, preferring to feast her eyes on the last glimpses of pale dunes and miles upon miles of butterfly panels blurred by the skid-car’s shield.The scenery changed to shoreline, housing structures, and solarized buildings as Junior navigated the manual-drive lane with some skill.He spoke no more, which she appreciated.She suspected she had a tracker inside her, so that would be the first stop.Just in case the Ring or Carne had placed her face and sol-cycle on the sec-scans, she’d bribed Junior for a ride.She didn’t need them sending bounty hunters into outer space.

He pulled up at the drop-off, and she hopped out before he’d drawn the skid-car to a stop.She grabbed her carry-all and waved him off, trailing her gaze up the white structure of the space station.Too busy for her liking, with travelers hindering escape routes and sec-guards on high-vigilance, she kept her face down and hurried toward the docking bay elevators.Returning her appearance to the natural state might not be enough.She glanced at her soiled heat-res suit.It wasn’t her usual red faux-leathers but would that matter if these hugged her just as well?She grimaced and walked into the first boutique on her path.

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