Star-Crossed - Chapter 3 (Patreon)

After making it back to the ship ISA lent her for the flight to Konus, Blake packed her belongings as fast as possible.  She didn’t have much besides a few changes of clothes and the other items provided by ISA, but she made doubly sure not to leave anything behind.  The most important piece of the collection was her communication device, which was her only means of contacting Command during her mission.

Before sliding the device into her pocket, she turned it on and sent what could be her last stress-free message for quite some time.  Upon noticing her trembling hands, however, she took a deep breath to calm herself before typing on the small screen.

‘Made contact.  If background checks out, I’m in.  Will message when possible.’

After rereading the brief message and deciding that was all she had to say for now, she sent the update to Command.  Even though they monitored the line of communication closely, they wouldn’t respond for security reasons; if she needed a response, she would have to request one.  

Having no need for an answer right now, she deleted the message, slipped the device into her pocket, and left the ship behind.  Someone from ISA would pick it up eventually, but that was the least of her concerns as she slung her bag over one shoulder and headed back to the hanger housing the Inferno.  

Night had fallen over the city, casting an additional layer of danger over every dark corner and cloaked stranger she passed.  Fortunately, the trek was nerve-fraying but uneventful.  She used ‘fortunately’ lightly, however, as what came next slowed her pace and heightened her budding anxiety.

Maybe the ship would be gone.  Maybe they figured out she was an Alliance agent and left.  That would actually be a little relieving, but it would also mean she failed - and she was too prideful to back down so easily.  

This might be a challenge, but it was her challenge.  Command entrusted her with this mission, and the last thing she wanted to do was fail.  So when she turned the corner and found the Inferno still sitting in front of her, she kept her head held high and her strides purposeful.  Even though she was worried, she refused to let it show.  She didn’t even glance at the hustle and bustle in the hanger, knowing that any appearance of nerves might give her away.  

These people didn’t scare her.  They might be accomplished criminals, and she was severely outnumbered, but they didn’t scare her.  They couldn’t scare her.  If all went as planned, she would be living amongst them for the foreseeable future.  Blending in required her to be one of them.

Catching sight of motion to her right, she turned and quickly realized that goal might be harder than expected.

“Going somewhere?” the gargantuan of a man asked while stepping into her path.  The words weren’t unfriendly, but his tone and the way his hand inched towards his weapon suggested otherwise.  The aggressive posture gave away his hope of proving his worth by making these her last few seconds alive.

“I’m joining,” she replied with as much swagger as she could muster while keeping careful tabs on his phaser.

“Didn’t hear of any grunts coming aboard.”

“Guess the good news hasn’t spread yet.”  

She added a confident smile with the boast but, from his set jaw and unflinching posture, he wasn’t buying what she had to say.  

“Ask Adam,” she added with a gesture towards the ship, though Adam was nowhere in sight.  “Or the...other two.”

The response did her no favors, and she realized too late that learning the names of her future bosses might be important in making her way aboard.  When he pulled out his weapon and aimed it at her, she decided that her failure to do so was a critical mistake.

“They already ran my IDs,” she added while edging backward.  “They need me to translate for them…”

Trailing off, she read his eyes for signs of attack.  If he so much as twitched his trigger finger, she would have to take him down.  She didn’t want to do that, but she also wasn’t going out without a fight.

“Brenci!” someone called out and, much to Blake’s relief, the man moved his finger away from the trigger while turning towards his name.  When she also turned towards the ship, she found that the two women from earlier had reappeared.  The blonde waved her over and, just like that, the danger passed.

“Lucky…” Brenci grumbled while holstering his weapon and returning to his post.  

With yet another unfortunate encounter over, Blake took a deep breath and continued towards the ship.  The brunette scowled at her approach, but that didn’t seem like anything out of the ordinary.  Neither she nor the blonde made any motion suggesting they would attack though, which Blake took as a good sign.  

Regardless, she put her life in their murderous hands without knowing what information they found or how they interpreted it.  What if they didn’t approve of something Alliance made up for her?  Would they shoot her as soon as she was close enough?  Would she have the chance to defend herself or would it be over too fast?

Her phaser and knife were within easy reach, but she was outnumbered fifty to one.  The best she could hope for was erasing the two leaders in front of her.  Actually, the best she could hope for was that they believed the made-up history and let her join without issue.

When the brunette suddenly grabbed something from her side, Blake hardly had time to flinch before her ID cards hit her squarely in the chest.  She managed to get her hands underneath them and caught them before they fell to the ground, but that did nothing to slow her now-racing heart or erase the smirk from the brunette’s lips.  They said they would kill her, and that reaction proved just how much she believed them.

“So?” she asked when no one said anything, hoping to put that moment behind her as quickly as possible.  The way the blonde stared at her made her uneasy, but she did everything in her power not to fidget under the intense gaze.  The red eyes in particular were disconcerting, projecting malice or evil intent.

“You spent a long time on Ibrion,” the blonde finally said.  “Any reason?”

Recognizing the knowledge test, Blake quickly recalled the made-up past she knew better than her own.

“It’s warm there,” she answered, shrugging for good measure.  “I like warm places.”  

When the blonde frowned and crossed her arms, showing off her intimidating metal arm and the flattering muscles of her real arm in the process, Blake decided to take a more direct approach.

“And I was working with a partner who got nabbed stealing some phasers.  ISA flagged my identities, so I figured I’d build another one and wait it out instead of running through their blockade.”

“What about Tyria?  Same thing happen there?”

As soon as Blake heard the planet name, she tilted her head.

“I’ve never been to Tyria.”

“Then where’d you do your time?”

“Nowhere.”  She managed a quick laugh and shake of her head at that question.  “Because I’ve never been caught.”

“Yet,” the blonde added with a roll of her eyes.  Apparently, she wasn’t fond of boasting.  “Which is surprising considering your record.”

“I told you - I’m good at what I do.”

“We’ll be the judge of that.”  The casual dismissal was vaguely annoying to Blake, but the blonde thought nothing of it.  Instead, she waved her hand and added, “Alright, guess you are who you say you are.  That doesn’t mean we’ll just let you in.”

“But I thought -”  One glare of those red eyes silenced Blake’s retort, and she shook her head before asking through a slightly-clenched jaw, “Then what else do I need to do?”

“Pass the cop test.”

“The cop test?”  

Even though she scoffed at the term, her sense of foreboding doubled.  She’d been warned this could happen, but she couldn’t back out now - not without risking her life in the process.

“The cop test,” the blonde repeated before pulling a phaser from her suit.  After making a show of looking over the weapon, she handed it to Blake and motioned towards the brunette.  “Shoot her.”

The brunette scowled at the order, but Blake took the weapon and tried to focus over the sound of her heart pounding in her ears.

“Isn’t she important?”

“Not anymore.  Do it.”

Sending the blonde one more glance for confirmation, to which the blonde nodded, Blake didn’t hesitate.  She couldn’t hesitate, even though the last thing she wanted to do was murder someone in cold blood.  Even if this woman deserved it.  

A cop would hesitate.  Anyone with morals would hesitate.  A criminal would not.  So she accepted the instruction, turned towards the scowling woman, and shrugged.

“No hard feelings,” she said before raising the weapon, aiming, and squeezing the trigger.  

She prepared herself for the quick spooling noise before a bolt of energy would leave the barrel, and the aftermath that would follow.  Instead, nothing happened.  No sound, no illumination, nothing.

“Give me that.”  

After snatching the weapon from Blake’s hand, the brunette threw it at the blonde with far more force than necessary.  

“Next time you be the bitch,” she snarled, not noticing the way the blonde smirked while putting the dummy phaser away.  She returned to glaring at Blake instead, though her glare was even fiercer than before.  Apparently, ‘no hard feelings’ wasn’t a phrase she understood…

But Blake was relieved it had been a trick.  Even though she was certain that either of these two deserved the swift and immediate end, she didn’t want to take a life so indiscriminately.  At least, the Alliance version of her didn’t want to, but that was the version of her she had to leave behind.

“Do I pass?” she asked in a confident voice that earned another annoyed look from the blonde.

“Don’t get cocky.  You might’ve passed, but now you’re a grunt.  Anyone asks you to do something, you do it.  You don’t complain, you don’t ask questions - you get your ass moving.  Got it?”

“Got it.”  

While nodding, Blake mentally marked the blonde as second-in-command.  That explained why the brunette openly disliked her yet did nothing about it.  

“Good.”  After giving Blake another once-over, the blonde squared her shoulders and nodded.  “If you step so much as a toe out of line, you’re leaving through the garbage chute.”

Blake had already expected as much, so nodded again.

“Understood.”  Abruptly realizing she was falling back upon her training with the short, regimented answers, she loosened her posture and motioned towards the ship.  “When’re we leaving?”

“Now.”  Holding Blake’s gaze, the blonde searched for something - surprise, maybe? - before finally turning towards the brunette.  “Cinder, be a dear and escort our newest guest to her room.”

With those parting words, she flashed Blake another look before striding into the cargo hold with the confidence and certainty of someone who truly belonged.  She barked a few orders at the Blackguards just inside, who went about their tasks with far more urgency while she disappeared into the ship.

“I’ll escort my foot up your ass...” Cinder muttered under her breath once the blonde disappeared from view, probably unaware that Blake could overhear.

That mattered very little, however, as the rest of the crew sprang to life.  The guards stationed on the periphery of the landing pad - including one of her new least favorite people, Brenci - left their posts and hurried aboard.  Others carried in the few remaining crates, strapped down supplies, and conducted safety checks in preparation for takeoff.  

With no role to play in the elaborate process, Blake was left alone with Cinder, who quickly regained her smirk and swagger upon the blonde’s exit. 

“Guess who’s in charge of your initiation, grunt.” 

Cinder looked far too happy about the prospect of fresh meat, which tempted Blake to give a sarcastic response.  Ultimately, she thought better of testing those waters so soon.  There would be a time and place for overstepping, but before takeoff definitely wasn’t that time.

“Looking forward to it,” she said instead, which only annoyed Cinder further.  Fortunately, she didn’t respond by throwing Blake off the ship.  She didn’t respond at all, actually.  Instead, she turned around and strode into the cargo hold without a word.

Recognizing a not-invitation when she saw one, Blake followed Cinder into the Inferno - this time, knowing she wouldn’t be leaving for the foreseeable future.  The permanence of the situation sank in as she walked through the towering cargo hold, and her nerves announced themselves so loudly that she tightly clenched her fists in an effort to calm herself.

She trained for this.  She had the skills for this.  She passed their tests.  Now, all she had to do was be the person ISA created - smart, confident on the verge of cocky, and ambitious.  Easier said than done when surrounded by some of the universe’s most notorious criminals.

Following Cinder into the belly of the ship, she kept her head on a swivel and tried to memorize as many landmarks as possible.  Realistically, she would have plenty of time to familiarize herself with her new surroundings later, but the faster she acquainted herself, the faster she figured out the secrets of the ship and its crew.

“Who’s the blonde?” she asked while passing through halls bustling with activity.  She knew Cinder didn’t want to talk, but she also refused to let Cinder walk all over her.  A certain amount of respect and deference was entitled to Cinder’s rank, but not at the price of her new image.  

“Looks like you two are close,” she added after several seconds of silence, and Cinder finally scoffed.

“Yang can get eaten by a Raspirger for all I care.”  While Blake filed away the name, Cinder shot her another glare.  “Go after her if you want, but Adam doesn’t like it when people mess with his things.”

When Blake wrinkled her nose at the implication, Cinder gave a dry laugh and continued through the labyrinth of hallways in better spirits.  Deciding not to push her luck more than she already had, Blake kept her mouth shut and followed.

Every detail she learned built a hierarchy that could be used to determine who had access to what information.  Beyond that, she would learn which crew members could be played against each other, or simply which were less homicidal than the others.  Her success depended not on making friends - she could never truly be friends with criminals, anyway - but on making allies who put her in the least compromising situations possible.

“Pretty sure this is the worst room on the ship.”  Stopping beside a closed door, Cinder pressed the button to open it and revealed a tiny cabin with a narrow bed, miniscule desk, and even smaller bathroom just beyond.  “It’s got your name written all over it.”

What Cinder intended as an insult was actually cause for relief.  Sharing a room with a potential murderer hadn’t exactly thrilled Blake, so she would gladly accept the individual space no matter how small.

“Guess I’ve seen worse…” she muttered under her breath regardless, knowing that she should feel insulted by the perceived slight.  When she stepped towards the doorway, however, Cinder stuck out an arm to stop her.

“Hand it over.”

When Cinder motioned towards the bag slung over Blake’s shoulder, she suppressed a sigh.  The last thing she wanted to do was hand her belongings to someone who clearly didn’t like her, but declining wasn’t an option.  So she shrugged off the bag and handed it over...only for Cinder to open it up and dump the contents onto the floor.  Watching the commotion, several passing crew members jeered or snickered while Cinder used her foot to sort through Blake’s possessions.

“Travel light, do you.”

“I try not to let my baggage weigh me down.” 

The response made Cinder scowl, suggesting she had far too much ‘baggage’ of her own.  But she said nothing and, after several seconds of kicking Blake’s things around, motioned for Blake to hand over her phaser.

“Grunts aren’t allowed weapons,” was the explanation provided.  A strange rule for a ship filled with criminals, but Blake didn’t complain while handing over the weapon.  When she reached for her knife next, however, Cinder stopped her.

“Keep it.  You can’t do anything with it anyway.”

Scowling at the insult, she had half a mind to prove Cinder wrong right then and there.  She had the highest knife mastery in her training class.  She was arguably more dangerous with a knife in her hands than a phaser.  But she let Cinder underestimate her, especially when it meant keeping her only means of protection.

“Alright.”  

Done searching, though she hadn’t done a very thorough investigation, Cinder kicked Blake’s belongings into the room.  Blake scowled at the blatant instigation but, knowing that a response would only make this worse, said nothing.

“Stay here until we need you for something.”  After one last look at Blake’s empty bag, Cinder tossed it into the room and smirked.  “Welcome to the Blackguards, grunt.”

When Cinder spun around, the cloak over her shoulder billowed out and, for a brief second, gave a glimpse of a jet-black, unnatural arm underneath.  The sinewy muscles and long claws looked like they belonged on a monster, not a person, and Blake suddenly understood why the crew members gave her such a wide berth as she passed.

Not even an hour into this adventure, Blake knew who her least favorite person would be.  Even Brenci, who pulled a phaser on her after no provocation, didn’t come close to matching the viciousness underlying Cinder’s tone and demeanor.

Having been told to stay put, she walked into the tiny room and shut the door behind her.  A brief look around her temporary living arrangement was enough for her to sigh, step over her belongings, and sit on the bed.  Now that she was in enemy territory, she missed home more than ever.  She wanted the comfort of her own bed and an entire base staffed with Alliance officers dedicated to their duty.  She wanted the freedom to contact her friends and family without worrying about the communications being intercepted and turned against her.

But she did it.  She was in.  And, as she felt the ship’s thrusters firing in the distance, she knew she was in for the long haul.  There was no backing out now.  Not that she could back out without risking her life.

Now that she was here, she had to do everything in her power to earn their trust.  From first impressions, Cinder probably wouldn’t be her best friend anytime soon.  Adam seemed myopically focused on his goal - as long as she was useful, he would use her.  Yang was harder to read, but the anger in her eyes was enough to keep Blake away.  There must be others on the ship with the information she needed.  All she had to do was become one of them then figure out what they knew.

Feeling the ship lift off and accelerate into the atmosphere, she realized how exhausted she was.  Even though her mind was racing, even though she had no idea where they were going or what would happen when they got there, she should try to rest whenever she could.

Laying down, only to flinch when an unfamiliar noise rumbled deep in the ship, she knew that her sleep would be restless at best.