I'm not sure how long I was in there, but it wasn't too long before I realized how stupid I was being. Yes, it hurts like hell to lose those I cared about, but that was part of life. Hell, we had all known the risks of the job and like K'rth has said, our fates are ultimately up to us. At least that was the line I was trying to sell myself as I got to my feet and washed my eyes out.
There was a mirror over the sink and I stared at myself a little doubtfully. I've never been one to admire my reflection, but I was thankful that half my face wasn't gone and there weren't any visible scars. I looked pretty normal, although the thick stubble had given me a rough start on a beard. A sudden knock on the door made me flinch and I opened it without answering to see K'rth looking down at me.
"Our hosts would like to see us," he said and I nodded. "Two representatives are waiting for you."
"Show time, huh?" I asked as I dried off my face and turned to look up at him. He will always be my best friend and I touched the braid and forced a smile. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," he said and squeezed my right shoulder as he got out of the way. I was glad to find that the bum shoulder didn't hurt me at all and we walked together to the main room. With a start, I realized that something was missing and stopped him.
"K'rth, where are our weapons?" I asked and his face was as even as his voice when he answered.
"They were taken for safe keeping when we landed," he said and I let out my breath. It wasn't like I expected everything to be positive, but the idea that we were unarmed in a potentially hostile environment made me rather uncomfortable.
"Great," I said and we went into the room. "Then I guess we get to play diplomat."
There were two humans waiting and they started sizing me up the moment I came into view. I'm not sure what I was expecting - suits, uniforms, whatever, but the two people in front of me took me a little off guard. They looked remarkable unofficial, which made me wonder what kind of SLA control was really here.
One of them was an average looking male human a little older than me with long dark hair, a goatee, a salesman's smile, and a cane. He was wearing what looked like the remnant of a suit with a wrinkled tie and I was suddenly reminded of some of the burnt-out Shiver detectives you run into in downtown. As for his partner, the first thing that came to mind were the Goregrrl dancers for Gorezone. She was a tall brunette with shoulder length hair and features that could have belonged to a media op, but there was something not right about her face. I tried to shove my fatigue aside and gave them my best business smile in return, but it probably came off as half-hearted.
"How do you-" the man said and hobbled forward with an extended hand. I started to shake his hand, but the woman apparently outranked him and stepped in the way to take my hand first.
"How do you do?" she said as she smiled. "I'm Samantha but call me Sam. You must be Operative Alex Cole?"
"Yes," I answered and smiled back but there was something weird about her that sent a chill down my spine. It might have been the eyes, because they were every bit as empty as any killer I had ever seen but I thought it was something more. Instead of thinking about it, I was more interested in getting away from her and politely tried to pry my hand free. She just smiled larger and since her grip was stronger than mine in my current state, there wasn't much I could do until she let go. The last time I had gotten this kind of impression from someone was when one of Casper's Brain Waster girlfriends was hyped up on P.I. and tried to drag me into an alley and I didn't appreciate the similarity...
"This is my associate Paul Harper," she said when she finally let me go. I shook his hand also, but the grip was so cold and clammy that I had the urge to wipe my hand off against my leg. I really hoped that these two were the exceptions for the populace because both of them weren't the types I'd ever feels comfortable turning my back on.
"If you feel up to it Alex-" the woman said. "You don't mind if I call you Alex, do you?"
"Actually, I prefer you call me C-" I started, but she wasn't going to let me finish. I'm not sure why every stranger I met wanted to call me by my first name, but the trend was obviously continuing.
"-We'd like to take you and your team to meet the boss," she continued without breaking stride.
I looked around at the others and caught the subtle nods from K'rth and Nix. If they were ready, then so was I. There was no use looking for a reaction from Obie since he'd follow us anywhere.
"We're ready," I said and she held out a pair of sunglasses that I carefully took and turned over in my hand. She must have read the expression and laughed.
"You're going to need these until you get used to it," she said as I followed them to the door.
I wanted to ask, "used to what" but knew what she meant when the door swung open. The light that had been filtering in through the shades to torment me earlier was nothing compared to what was waiting for us beyond the threshold. The outside air was as hot as a furnace and my mouth probably dropped open when I saw the light wasn't coming from any spotlights
"Good Lord," I muttered and felt K'rth's hand rest on my shoulder. Above me was absolutely nothing - no clouds, no towers, no rain - just a brilliant, clear blue. I had never seen anything so bright and turned in a half circle, tracking the blue to the horizon where it met the brown and red ground. There were a few sparse buildings around but they barely registered. I had never actually seen a sky before or so much open space and never imagined anything could be so large. With it right there in front of me, it looked even bigger and more real than the view of Mort from that transport.
"Alex, are you okay?" K'rth asked and I nodded slowly. He must have understood why I was gaping and interjected when our guides stopped and started staring back at me.
"He has never seen an open sky before," K'rth said for me. "And it's a rather impressive site."
"I was like that when I arrived also," Harper said, squinting from behind his own sunglasses. "Like most things here, you'll get used to it."
It took a few moments for me to gather myself and I fell in behind the guides but couldn't shake the case of nerves I had picked up. Having grown up in downtown under electric light, I never really thought about the fact that there could have been a sky somewhere above me with a sun in it. Now that I was looking up into a big blue nothing, some part of me felt vertigo like I was going to fall away and there was nothing I could do to shake it.
"OW!" I winced and glared at the Wraith who had scratched my ear to get my attention. She was to my left and smiled as her sadistic side showed through.
"Now you know how I feel cooped on Mort," she said. "Well, in reverse that is."
"Yeah, I think I finally do."
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