Company

<snip>
Jaxx walked out from behind the foliage to see Cass from behind point her weapon at the brush before her. Jaxx nervously scratched his head as he muttered, “Yo Ms. Jones. You wouldn't like know the rest of Jay dude’s plan would you?”
</snip>
She flinched at this, an involuntary yelp of shock escaping her lips before she wheeled and dropped to a crouch, her pistols moving to target him as he spoke.
For a breathlessly tense moment, Jaxx was almost certain she was going to shoot, but to his immense relief, she pulled up her pistols with a low hiss of “Fuck”
“Uhmm...” Jaxx nervously shuffled his feet and looked down at the floor for a moment before glancing back up at the woman, lurking in the gathering gloom “Like, hi...”
“Hi yourself” Cass grated as she climbed back to her feet and slipped her pistols back into their holsters “Have you seen any of the others?”
“No... Other Jay dude, you know? I, like, saw him”
She perked up; eyebrows raised “You did? Where is he? Is he okay?”
“I dunno Ms. Jones. I think he was, like, going to take out that big robot thing?”
“The mech!?”
“Yeah” Jaxx nodded “That”
“Oh, for fucks sake” Cass breathed, her brow furrowing with worry “Have you seen him since?”
“Nah – He’ll be fine though”
Taking a deep breath and sighing it slowly out, Cass folded her arms, only to detach one hand a second or two later to nervously massage her forehead with her fingertips “Yeah” she said after moment “He’ll be okay” This was more for her own benefit than for Jaxx – An affirmation of faith and hope, spoken aloud to make it real.
“Yeah, totally” Jaxx grinned broadly “Jay dude’s, like, completely indestructible”
Letting her hand fall, Cass refolded her arms and grimaced “I wish I possessed that sort of optimism”
“Uh, what?”
She shook her head in response and turned away to eye the gloomy forest around them, leaving Jaxx to uncomfortably shift his weight from foot to foot. He wasn’t quite sure what had happened there, but she didn’t seem happy. He hoped he hadn’t upset her.
“So, uh...” he cleared his throat “Like, what’s the plan?”
“Oh, I don’t know” Cass sighed and turned back regard to him “The night’s drawing in, so I don’t suppose there’s any good in running around, trying to find everyone in pitch darkness. Can your psychic hitchhiker sense anyone else nearby, or do we need to be thinking about shelter for the night?”
“Huh?”
“Frankie?”
“Oh, right!” Jaxx grinned “No, he’s, like, taking a bit of a back seat for now, you know?”
“Wonderful”
“I guess it's okay” Jaxx nodded, completely missing her sarcasm. For a moment he wondered whether he should explain why Frankie was doing this; thinking that it might help if he mentioned that he had been told to be diplomatic and try to build bridges, but in the end he decided against it. The little he knew about this confusing woman suggested that she might not take it too well. He sighed. Things were much easier with Eve. He hoped she was all right “Would uh... Would you like, like some food?”
“Have you got any?” she asked, her voice hopeful “I’m absolutely starved”
“Heh” Jaxx scratched the back of his head and looked ruefully down at the ground “I don’t” he admitted before brightening as an idea slowly coalesced “But we could get some”
Cass regarded him sceptically “Do you even know what’s safe to eat around here?”
Jaxx remained silent for a minute or two at this, his face occasionally betraying the internal dialogue he was holding with Frankie. “Nah” he said eventually “but we can, like, totally go catch some fish – Frankie says he knows a great pool, not too far from here. Shall we go?”
“I take it you’ve never heard of fugu?” Cass grumbled blackly as she waved him on.
“No, what’s that?” he looked back over his shoulder as he started pushing through the undergrowth and into in the gathering gloom.
“A poisonous fish. Tetrodotoxin – It’s a powerful neurotoxin; causes paralysis and eventual respiratory collapse. Way worse than cyanide”
“Huh?”
“It’ll kill you” Cass sighed and stopped in her tracks, her shoulders slumping as she shook her head “That was uncalled for. I’m sorry”
“Like... Uh...” Jaxx’s glanced back at her, his brow knotting as he tried to make any sense of what had just happened “You, like, totally know a load of real big words”
“I’ll try to rein that in”
“Heh. Thanks... I think”
They continued in silence for a while, Cass following along in Jaxx’s wake as he forced his massive frame through the dense undergrowth. For the most part they made good progress, only having to double back once, to negotiate their way around an almost impenetrable mass of foliage blocking their way.
By the time Cass had noticed that the ground underfoot had become rockier and had begun to slope away beneath her feet, it was nearly dark. The sound of falling water was just audible in the distance.
“I, uh...” Jaxx began awkwardly. He glanced back over his shoulder at the silhouette of the woman behind him “I don’t think I ever thanked you for fixing my brain up”
Fucking finally! Cass rolled her eyes in the darkness “You’re welcome. I enjoyed the challenge. It took a couple of new techniques that I’m quite proud of having figured out”
“Well, uh, thanks, you know? Eve babe’s really happy about it too”
“I can only imagine”
“Hope she’s okay”
Cass grimaced. Jaxx might not be the sharpest tool in the box, but he was undoubtedly as worried about his wife as she was about Jay – maybe more so, given that Evelina didn’t have six hundred years of skills and experience to fall back on.
“I’m sure she’ll be fine” she soothed “Maybe she met up with some of the others?”
“I hope so”
To Cass, Jaxx sounded less his usual self and more despondent and worried. She changed the subject
“I suppose I should thank you for the sacrifices you made, saving us all when the ship was about to go up. Things have been kinda busy recently, so I don’t think I’ve had chance.”
Jaxx glanced back at her as they emerged out into moonlight at the top of the verdant cliffs above a narrow ravine. The sound of water filled the air, babbling briskly over the rocks, some five or so metres beneath them.
“S’okay Ms Jones” he shrugged and looked away again, down the course of the gorge “You, like, don’t have to make excuses. I know you don’t like me much”
“I...” Cass glanced sharply back at him, feeling as though she had just been slapped “No... I... I don’t dislike you. I’m just wary of you.”
Jaxx shrugged again “S’okay” he repeated
“No. No it’s not” Cass turned to face him, angry now “You were a fucking nightmare when you emerged from stasis. You claim not to remember, but I have perfect recall – I remember everything” she quickly amended, seeing the confusion steal across his face “You endangered all our lives on several occasions and I, personally, am lucky to be alive following your antics with the Belhaphasarian’s”
“The what?” Jaxx stared back at her
“Belhaphasarian’s – They were a tribe of shape shifters that we picked up. At one point they all looked like Kat and I, and you killed dozens of them.
“It was a miracle we both survived” she paused to purse her lips, apparently carefully considering her next words carefully “I had nightmares for fucking weeks after that” she said eventually “Post-traumatic stress!”
“Whoa...” Jaxx’s mouth hung open in shock “That’s totally heinous”
“Damn right” Cass folded her arms defensively in front of her and turned away to gaze down into the inky depths of the gorge below.
Jaxx continued to stare at her, her profile highlighted in silver relief “I, like, totally didn’t know Ms Jones” he said softly
“Like I’d have even told you,” she gave a short, bitter laugh “or anyone”
Straightening, she turned back to him, her arms still folded “So, yeah – I’m wary of you. You may have changed since then, but I’m not the type who forgives and forgets – I rarely forgive and I never forget.”
“Harsh” Jaxx breathed, slowly shaking his head
“Maybe” Cass shrugged “Don’t get me wrong. You’ve had your moments. Vegas for example was great – You were an invaluable member of my squad and you made an excellent contribution; but then you went and threw all that away when by making us feel like we couldn’t trust you. Again”
Jaxx shuffled his feet uncomfortably “Yeah, Eve babe, like totally told me off about that. I won’t be doing it again”
“You should listen to her. She’s looking out for you”
“Yeah” Jaxx smiled at the recollection of his wife “She’s totally amazing”
Cass grimaced. It seemed almost unfair that after all he had done, Jaxx was so blissfully happy with the love of his life – especially when her own circumstances left so much to be desired. She shook herself and inwardly sighed What was the point? “I’m glad you found each other”
“Thanks” Jaxx smiled “I hope you and Jay turn out alright”
To her immense surprise, he seemed to genuinely mean what he had just said and she regarded him in silence for a moment. “That’s an entirely different story” she managed
“Frankie says you make a totally cute couple”
Stiffening at this, Cass blatantly changed the subject “So where’s this pool full of fish that Frankie was on about? I’m starving”
“Oh, yeah; alright Ms Jones” Jaxx gestured away down the course of the ravine “It’s this way”

Trekking though the moonlit darkness, alive with the calls of unfamiliar animals and insects, it took another twenty minutes before they arrived. The pool Frankie had promised was a section of the stream where the ravine opened out, allowing an irregularly shaped pond to form in the natural depression. Trees crowded in around the edge of the placid waters.
“Here we are” Jaxx nodded with satisfaction
“I imagine it looks nice enough in the daylight” Cass turned to look around them “I’ll sort the fire out; you get the fish – Deal?”
“No probs, Ms Jones – I’ll get you something to eat”
“Oh? – What about you?”
“I’m vegetarian remember?”
“I... Yeah”
“Don’t sweat it. I don’t know how to set a fire – you see to that” and with that he was wading out into the pool.
Shrugging, Cass busied herself collecting kindling and firewood while Jaxx divested himself of his gaudy Hawaiian shirt and carefully hung it on a nearby, overhanging branch before he slipped silently into the inky waters of the moonlit pond. Partially submerged, he smiled with pleasure as he opened his gills, savouring the crisp clean water for a moment before diving beneath the surface, leaving only the faintest of ripples.
Alone for a few minutes, Cass quickly found enough dry wood nearby to keep them going for a while and busied herself setting the fire, which she lit with a dialled down blast from one of her pulse pistols. Satisfied after a few more minutes that the gently flickering flames weren’t about to go out, she pulled her terminal out of one of her pockets to check its readings.
Nobody seemed to have been able to get in touch, although that was hardly surprising with the ECM field still active across the area; although on a positive note, she was happy to see that the terminal was reporting considerable progress towards decoding the ECM mutation algorithm; so all she had to do was sit tight and wait while the process finished before she’d be able to re-establish communications with everyone.
She hoped Jay was okay – Jade too...
Something slashed out in the pond, making her frown and look out across the waters.
What the...?
Pushing herself to her feet, she padded down, closer to the water’s edge, but there was nothing to see.
Where was Jaxx?
“Jaxx?” she called, her voice an intrusion in the night
For a moment, there was no reply until the waters suddenly erupted in a frenzy of black tentacles, several of which streaked out to coil wetly around her legs; hauling her off her feet and onto her back to begin dragging her, screaming, into the water.

<tag>
There’s something unpleasant in the pond – What happened to Jaxx, can he save Cass?

In the meantime, what’s everyone else doing for the evening?
The ECM field is still active so communications are down, the Haruk are probably going to attack any human they see on sight, and Plisken’s erstwhile captors are going to be keen to have words (and by words, I mean a missile strike on their missing mech ;-P)
Communications will be back on in the morning - Have a good night!
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