[Wistrel]

Un-Named (the next part)

He didn’t know her, but the name ‘Sterling and Moss’ displayed on his cognitive visual interface (CVI) was enough to tell him that, despite her battered appearance, this was a girl to be reckoned with. The agne (derogative term for those settlers with clearly more money than brains or experience) had betrayed her veteran facade by failing to recognise or notice her society but Nozzy was not one to make such an elementary mistake. She raised her head to regard him through a single eye, the other too bruised and swollen as to allow for focus, doubt evident on her face despite her injuries. Taking the initiative he grabbed her hand and jerked her sharply to a sitting position eliciting a sharp cry pain. Frowning, Nozzy reached for his aid pack but she shook her head pulling back producing instead a broken pack and raising a shaky hand to point at the closest repair terminal. She made to move again but he placed a hand on her shoulder. “No”, he said activating his own pack “this one’s on the house”. Despite a somewhat resentful glare he continued about the business of patching her up but aside from a token effort to resist his machinations there was little she could do in protest.

The extent of the injuries turned out to be massive. Through repairing severed tendons, tissue and cartilage loss not least of these an almost total blood transfusion, it took Nozzy nearly all of his skill, not to mention a good deal of time, to get the girl back on her feet. None of which was helped, of course, by her repeated struggles towards the end of the operation. By the time he had finished he was exhausted and sat back wiping the sweat from his brow. He didn’t want to think about the heavy cost this girl had no doubt brought upon him but hoped, despite her somewhat ungrateful façade, she might at least on some level appreciate all that he had done for her. Casting his gaze back towards the floor of the shop container he saw, with some surprise, that she had already gone. Looking up sharply he spotted her limping towards a vacant trade terminal on the opposite side of the room and, letting out a dispassionate sigh, got to his feet and made to follow.

“Hey Wistrel!” She turned to face him with the air of someone who is barely tolerating another’s presence. Anger flushed his features but then he remembered himself. They’d all been in her situation, every damn colonist on Calypso, beaten, battered, penniless, down on their luck and hating everything. “Look”, he began hesitantly as she continued to glower at him, “this may not be what you want to hear right now as I can see you’re low on luck but you can at least hear me out yes?” Her expression remained fixed so he continued. “Tomorrow, 8 o’clock some of us are leaving Calypso.” A slight flicker of her eyes indicated he’d caught her attention. “There’s a mining installation, on an asteroid, three orbits from here. Seems some ‘Mr Big’ from the home worlds is running the show there, new colonists, hunting domes, retail, nightlife the whole shebang…” He broke off, chuckling at her sceptical expression. “Heh yeh and they saaay you can make your fortune” he added with mock sarcasm echoing the words of some of the early Calypso propaganda. “Well, fortune or not, for one thing, it sure aint here. We’ve found a guy who can waive immigration and trafficking control so we’re flying for juice and maintenance fees only…” He paused. “I can get you on for fifteen Wistrel. No, don’t say anything now just think about it, a new start. If you’re interested and you can get the cash together in time, be there ten mins before take off.” Regarding her now, her face was the picture of sheer derision but he saw through it. Aping a defeated shrug he turned and made for the container door. “Hey!” came a shout from behind. He paused. “You didn’t tell me where this spaceship of yours is docked”. “Camp Echidna, third hangar north of the settlement oh… and Wistrel”, he said turning back to her, “keep it to yourself ok?”

He left her standing next to the trade terminal as he headed out into the twilight, a private smile subtly visible on his lips.

END (of another part)

------------------------------------------------------------------

Dum dum dahhhhh! Hmmm well not much of a cliff hangar to be honest but it felt like a good spot to break. Will she go, or won’t she? What is Nozzy up to, if anything? Sadly time probably won’t tell, at least any time soon, as I said before, I have a pretty good idea what happens next but it’s unlikely to be continued for ages. So… some stuff of note (and I appreciate I’m rambling more to myself than anyone else now so feel free to skip on to the next diary entry) I always saw Wistrel as something of a changeable character, not all at once of course but, as expected, over time stuff goes on and that makes a difference. Here, you can see, she’s being a bit of a bitch but hopefully I managed to convey in the last part why this is and, if nothing else, she’s certainly having a bad day. I’d like to give a brief thanks to Kira and Epic for their inspirational stories while I’m at it. Of particular note the bit in Kira’s that deals with her friend’s suicide really put a knot in my stomach. Luckily, I’m still less than half way through Epic’s one! = D

On a final note, a pretty cool thread can be found here.

Wistrel