Gut Soup
Where: Davie's
quarters
When: The morning after Cass got the message
Who: Davie and Harvey
<Snip>
"What the smeg!?" she muttered, realising they
were all heading in the direction of Cassandra's room, and in turn hurried on
over as well
The sight that greeted her wasn't pretty
"Who the smeg has done this!?" she demanded, taking in the 'horse'
head and the vast amount of blood in disbelief
"We're checking the security feeds now" one of the bodyguards told
her "but how the intruder managed to override our systems is something of
a concern"
"I'd say so" Brittany remarked coldly
Cassandra, besmirched with blood, and shivering with shock at the end of the
bed as far away from the oversized mutant nags head
as she was able to get, took a few deep gulps of air before she was able to say
anything
"They're dead" she hissed, her voice building with an edge of
hysteria to it "I don't care who smegging well did this, they are dead.
I'm going to give them pain enhancing drugs and then smegging well torture them
to death over the course of three smegging weeks! They are dead, you hear me!?
Dead!"
<End Snip>
Davie sat up in his bed, having had an only
mildly restful night, his body aching from recent events. He changed out of his
old, and now renounced JMC Security staff uniform the night before, and dawned
a set of black combat fatigues similar to the set he'd worn during the assault
on the assault on the Hymenoptera home world, or, at least, one of them. His
having worn these fatigues to bed hadn't helped his sense of comfort ability,
or otherwise lack of, but since they had taken over the ship, he wanted to be
ready to go on the fly. Particularly since he had left a "horse's" head in the
bed of a woman who was under the Queen's protection. And who knew how many JMC
loyal goons were still lose on the ship? Or when they might come under attack
from a Space Corp. warship?
He picked up the pistol he had
sitting on the night stand next to his cot, and looked across at his kitchen.
He stood and walked to the bathroom with his pistol, checking for intruders.
After all, he hadn't lived this long by being careless. Many a time had little
observations saved his life.
Someone knocked at his front door
and he tensed. He thumbed the safety of his pistol and stepped quickly towards
the door, standing to the side of it. "Who is it?" asked Davie, half shouting through the metal door
to his quarters. "It's Harvey." came the reply. Still cautious, Davie let the door open a crack to see Harvey floating just outside. Davie opened the door all the way and let Harvey float inside. "Come on in." Davie said, waving him
inside, switching his gun's safety back on. "So how've you been, dude?"
"Alright, but before we continue, I
have to pee."
Davie walked into the bathroom, taking his
pistol with him. "So what's up, Harv?" Davie
asked after relieving himself. "Bad news."
"Oh smeg
what now?" Davie asked worriedly.
"You know that woman you left the horse's head in her bed?"
"Cassandra?"
"Yeah."
"What about her?"
"She knows it was you."
"Great
" said Davie in a sarcastic and drawn out tone,
"
what is gonna do about it?"
"She said something about giving
you pain enhancing drugs and then torturing you for three days before killing
you."
"Nothing terribly practical,
though?" he said with a mix of ire and sarcasm in his voice. "Well, she said
something about sucking out your insides with a miniature worm hole generator,
which would leave you as a pretty good haggis recipe, and your skin a nifty
material for her to make a leather jacket out of."
Davie sat on his cot and grimaced at the
thought. "In case she actually meant that," began Harvey, "I whipped this up for you."
Harvey used hi tiny, peewee like
arms to toss into Davie's lap a dog tag chain attached to what looked like a
small light be emitting a soft blue light. Davie rolled it over in his hands. "What is
this?" he asked. "That light bee contains a minute wormhole particle, and is
constantly emitting a field that has the same properties as an active wormhole.
And since worm holes repel each other, and, for that matter attract each other
to a certain extent, but since they worm hole energy reflects other worm hole
energy--"
"Simply?"
"Oh, sorry. It works like holding
two magnets with the same polarization together; they repel. Worm hole energy
reflects worm hole energy. As long as you wear that you're safe from becoming
gut soup."
"Thanks Harv!" said Davie, slipping on the
chain, "You're a life saver. Literally."
"All in a days work."
"By the way," said Davie curiously, "I've
been meaning to ask you, how do you get this information?"
Harvey looked at flatly. "Dude, I'm an AI
with an IQ of 8,000, in a mechanical body, from another dimension. I have my
ways."
Davie
looked at his for a moment, then smiled as he thought he saw Harvey
phase into a slight state transparency as he smiled back at Davie.
<snip-ette>
"I need anyone who gives a
damn, and all department heads in the conference room now. That includes you
Pancake."
<end snip-ette>
came a
voice over the ship's intercom. Davie
recognized it as Amber's voice. "Well," he said, addressing Harvey, "I give a damn, so I'd better get
going."
"Since Cass
has it out for you, I'd suggest wearing your exoskeleton."
"Good idea,
Harv."
Davie pulled on his
exoskeleton about as quickly as he could, strapping on his combat belt and
rigging over the armor. "Well," said Harvey, "with that worm-bee, the
exoskeleton and it's hard-light shield, and all of those weapons I'd say Cass,
or the entire Space Corp. for that matter, would have a hard time taking you
down
"
"Let's
hope." said Davie
hopefully. "See you later Harv." Davie said
stepping outside with Harvey,
and locking the door behind them. "Later dude!" said Harvey,
floating off away from Davie.
Davie reached the
midpoint in his journey without much trouble, but as he neared the next lift in
his journey to the conference room, he was approached by two burly looking men
security clothing. They even looked mildly frightened at how Davie looked in his sleek, powerful
exoskeleton, plus the weapons and equipment he was loaded down with. Davie's heart skipped a
beat as they approached, and the one in charge stepped forward and stopped him,
opening his mouth to speak. "Davie Jones, you're under arrest."
"For what?"
asked Davie in
a calm, cool and level voice. "You are under arrest for leaving a decapitated
horse's head in Cassandra Jones bed while she slept."
"Wasn't
me." Davie said
nonchalantly.
"We have
you on video."
"It wasn't me." he said again,
speaking and looking at them still as nonchalantly he could manage, which under
the circumstances was fairly impressive. "We have you on tape, we can see your
face!"
"How do you
know it wasn't a hologram that looked like me?"
The man
hesitated. "Er--"
Davie thought quick and
cut him off before he had a chance to think. "If I were you I'd investigate
Justin Pancake. I don't think he particularly like me, which would give him a
motive to frame me, and I've heard he's very
good at making realistic holograms."
The man
looked at the floor in puzzled thought as his partner looked bewilderedly
between him and Davie.
"Now, gentlemen, if you'll excuse me, I have a meeting to attend. God day."
Davie entered the lift,
leaving the two men confused in the corridor. Had he stayed any longer, and
they may have found the weakness with his story, but luckily he didn't. After another quick stop he was one lift away
from being where he was getting. As the lift doors pinged open he saw Rosette
and Rufus hugging each other firmly in the lift.
* * *
Harvey floated down the
corridor and pulled up along side Seymour Nipples. "Ambassador Nipples, dude?"
"Yes? What
is it? And make it quick, or I'll be late for a meeting for people who give a
daI mean for the important people on the ship." Seymour said, sounding just very slightly
flustered. "Well, Ambassador, I need you to speak with the Queen on Davie one's behalf.
Convince her that he's not at fault."
"For what?"
"Leaving a
horse's head Cassandra's bed."
"What?!"
"Just talk
some sense to her. Try to get her to reign in the dogs of war that Cass is so
eager to let lose on Davie."
"Davie supposed to be
guarding the Queen!"
"Good! Use
that to your advantage! Tell her that with his combat experience she needs him
to protect her. Then she'll have no choice but to not let Cass have her way
with him."
"I--"
"Come on,
just use those negotiating skills of yours on her! Pretty please?"
<Tag, Seymour?>
* * *
As the doors pinged open, Davie cleared his throat. "Am I interrupting
something?" he asked and they split apart. Rosette blushed slightly and Rufus
smiled just a little, looking at the floor uneasily. "Rufus!" Davie exclaimed as he realized he wasn't
dead. "Rufus buddy, how are you alive!?"
"Long
s-s-s-story. I t-t-tell you later."
Davie stepped into the
lift with them. "Chief, I need a bit of help?"
"What is
it?"
Davie explained his
situation, and the events that led up to it. He explained how he left the horse
head in Cass's bed, and as he did so, the expression on her face was a mixture
of admiration with a hint of disgust, and she wondered why she hadn't though of
it. The he explained what Cass wanted to do with him, and how dead she wanted
him. "Well Chief? Any ideas?"
<Tag, Chief.>