{"data":{"id":13859,"title":"The First Run: Episode Four","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/comm-link\/serialized-fiction\/13859-The-First-Run-Episode-Four","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-links\/13859","api_public_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/comm-links\/13859","channel":"Undefined","category":"Undefined","series":"The First Run","images":[{"id":1571,"name":"SorriLyrax_test2.jpg","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/media\/khggyuby7bo7rr\/source\/SorriLyrax_test2.jpg","alt":"","size":1760627,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","last_modified":"2014-04-17T20:30:23+00:00","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/1571","similar_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/1571\/similar"}],"images_count":1,"translations":{"en_EN":"The hum of a ship\u2019s quantum drive against my cheek woke me. Lying on my side, I pressed my palms against my eye sockets and rubbed until I could see again. Whatever had knocked me out left me groggy, like every thought had to be routed through a bucket of mud.\n\nWhen I sat up, the restraints rattled against the door panel. Wire loops had been fastened around my wrists. The other ends were screwed to the floor. I had enough play to reach my face, but nothing more.\n\nThe pilot seat swiveled around, revealing the brute who\u2019d stolen my MobiGlas. He wore a navy blue pressure suit, minus the gloves and helmet. He steepled his fingertips together, narrowing his gaze at me, and I felt like chicken in a coop being sized up for slaughter.\n\n\u201cYou don\u2019t want to kill me,\u201d I blurted out.\n\nHis eyebrow raised. \u201cI don\u2019t? Educate me, little scrum.\u201d\n\nI couldn\u2019t help but shake my head in a double-take. That erudite voice coming from that brutish body was a contradiction.\n\nIt also occurred to me that it was an error on my part to have spoken before I knew the score. Behind the brute was the black emptiness of space through the view screen, except for a little reddish dot, dead center on the screen. It looked like a planet by the thin nimbus around it. Probably a gas giant.\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s your name?\u201d I asked, stalling.\n\nHe licked his lips. \u201cBurnett.\u201d\n\nHe said the first part of his name like burr and the second part he rolled over his tongue.\n\n\u201cWell, Burnett,\u201d I replied, glancing around the cockpit, \u201cI\u2019m Sorri, but not sorry.\u201d\n\nAt my joke, his upper lip curled back, showing his teeth. \u201cI know who you are.\u201d\n\nRight. Which put me at a major disadvantage. I didn\u2019t know who this Burnett was, except that he\u2019d stolen my MobiGlas and kidnapped me.\n\nI craned my neck to see the control panel for the ship, which was no help. I didn\u2019t know the difference between a jump-capable ship and just an in-system flier.\n\nBurnett seemed content to watch me like a cat observing a trapped mouse.\n\nI searched my memory for anything that might help, when I remembered the last thing Burnett had said to me: It seems Dario found himself an ally.\n\nNow what in the deep space did that mean?\n\nMy eyes widened when I connected the dots. \u201cDario, the guy from the Solar Jammer, put something on my MobiGlas. That\u2019s what Security saw. She should have never let me go.\u201d\n\nThe words trailed past my lips, half-realization, half- regret.\n\nThe corners of Burnett\u2019s eyes creased and the cramped cabin seemed to shrink even further. I was two steps from this erudite beast of a man, and he had a blade on his hip. When I looked at the hard metal flooring, he laughed.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t worry. I won\u2019t cut your throat. Your blood would seep under the plates and interfere with my electronics. When it\u2019s time to get rid of you, I\u2019ll just throw you out the airlock.\u201d\n\nWhen. He said when.\n\n\u201cThen what are you waiting for?\u201d I asked, chin raised, looking directly in his green-brown eyes. I bit my lower lip to keep it from trembling.\n\n\u201cYou looked like a talker. I hoped you might just spit out whatever plan you and Dario had, saving me the trouble of torturing you.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut I don\u2019t know him. I\u2019m just a courier for FTL. You know, when you need a message delivered, nothing\u2019s faster than light?\u201d\n\nThe words fell over themselves on the way out of my lips. I could feel my life\u2019s clock ticking down to the final seconds.\n\nHe squinted and shifted forward in his seat, which with his bulk, practically bent the steel bottom. \u201cIt feels like you\u2019re telling the truth. But I might just need to put the knife to you, to make sure you\u2019re not simply a good liar.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat do you want to know? I\u2019ve got nothing to lose, right?\u201d\n\nBurnett seemed to consider my offer.\n\n\u201cYou don\u2019t know Dario?\u201d he asked after a time.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d I said. \u201cI spoke to him on the trip out, mostly at the beginning. He must have hacked my MobiGlas when I was asleep. Put that file on it. I guess whatever it is, it\u2019s important?\u201d\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t worry your little head about it.\u201d\n\nI had a moment of insight. \u201cHe\u2019s your rival, isn\u2019t he? You figured out what he was going to do. Use me to get the file past local security. So you just waited on planet and grabbed it.\u201d\n\nBurnett nodded in agreement. \u201cNo harm in telling you that much. New couriers are never given important files, in fact, usually they\u2019re given fake stuff to test them. So you didn\u2019t have the high class security afforded that kind of data. When I caught Dario sniffing into your background, I took a chance that he\u2019d pull this trick again.\u201d\n\nThen he stood up and the chair groaned beneath his effort. He had to keep his head ducked to keep from hitting the ceiling. When he pressed his lips together and blew a sighing breath out his nose, my stomach twisted into a knot.\n\n\u201cAnd now it\u2019s time to say goodbye. I\u2019m really sorry Dario used you, but you shouldn\u2019t have followed me,\u201d he said, grabbing a screwdriver from the seat next to his.\n\nWhen he advanced on me, I thought about scratching and clawing at him like a frenzied cat, but that would only make him mad. I needed to keep my wits about me, but it was hard, really hard.\n\nHe leaned down and began unscrewing the cable from the floor without the least bit of concern. I felt like a child next to him. The knife on his belt was only an arm\u2019s reach away, but I knew he\u2019d be faster than me.\n\nI looked out the viewscreen at the front of the ship. The reddish gas giant was now a decent-sized object on the screen, its features beginning to appear.\n\n\u201cYou\u2019re going to sell the data to some pirates, huh?\u201d\n\nI smirked and nodded my head towards the front of the ship, but I was afraid it came off as amateur. His right eye twitched.\n\n\u201cSort of,\u201d he said, stepping on the first cable so I couldn\u2019t move my arm and starting work on the second one.\n\n\u201cI bet they won\u2019t be happy when the UEE shows up,\u201d I said.\n\nHe narrowed his gaze as he loosened the second cable, but kept working. He grabbed the ends and yanked me up. He pulled me behind him into the main cabin behind the cockpit.\n\nDumped out on a table were the contents of my backpack, including the other MobiGlas and my personals. At the back of the room was an airlock. Burnett led me to the door and began putting on his pressure gloves, sealing them tight. Each snap of the glove connecting to his suit hardened my stomach to lead.\n\nThen he pulled his screwdriver out and started undoing the clamps around my wrists. His meaty hand, even with the pressure glove, was a vise around my arms. I would have complained about bruising, but it wasn\u2019t going to matter long.\n\n\u201cYou know this isn\u2019t going to work,\u201d I said, but Burnett kept working. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t have come after you if I didn\u2019t have a fail safe.\u201d\n\nHe shrugged and tugged the screw out of the first clamp. The metal clattered onto the floor near my foot.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m not dumb,\u201d I said. \u201cI figured out where your lander was pretty quickly, didn\u2019t I?\u201d\n\nHe paused with the screw halfway out of the second clamp. The salt and pepper stubble on his chin bunched up as he frowned.\n\n\u201cTalk,\u201d he said.\n\n\u201cFTL. The courier service. They have two fail safes. One in the company issued MobiGlas \u2014\u201d I caught him glancing at his chest pocket, \u201c\u2014 the other they inject into us somewhere. It emits a beacon if we die, or if the MobiGlas is destroyed, or any of several other reasons. It might even be transmitting right now.\u201d\n\nBurnett growled and tapped on his MobiGlas with his gloved fingers. When he made a grunt of satisfaction, I knew he\u2019d scanned for communications and it\u2019d come up empty.\n\nBurnett scowled in my direction and finished removing the last screw. When it hit the floor, I twitched.\n\nHe released my wrists, so I stood back and rubbed the feeling back into them. Needles ran up my arm, so I shook them until they went away.\n\nThe whole time, Burnett was watching me, one hand limply holding the screwdriver, the other on the handle of the knife.\n\nI had the unhealthy feeling that he was thinking about cutting me open to look for the non-existent beacon.\n\nThe ship sent an announcement over the speakers, \u201cApproaching destination. Arrival in five minutes.\u201d\n\nAt the front of the ship, the gas giant blotted out the screen, but hovering in the middle was a grayish ice moon. Our destination, I assumed.\n\nBurnett reached towards me, and I thought he was going to slam me against the airlock. Instead, he poked me in the chest and growled.\n\n\u201cFine. I\u2019m not throwing you out the airlock. But you\u2019re going to wish I had before long.\u201d\n\nI wanted to swallow, but couldn\u2019t get the spit down. \u201cWhy\u2019s that?\u201d\n\n\u201cHave you ever heard of the Stardevils?\u201d he asked.\n\nI shook my head.\n\n\u201cWiDoW junkies. They make SLAM-heads look like saints. Rather than kill you, I\u2019ll just sell you to them. Make a little profit, and when they accidentally kill you in their special pain orgies, your little beacon, if it\u2019s real, will bring the UEE down on their maggot-infested heads. But that won\u2019t matter to me because I\u2019ll be long gone.\u201d\n\nMuch to my shame, my legs weakened and I collapsed against the door, halfway holding myself up against the airlock. My weakness was mostly hunger \u2014 I hadn\u2019t eaten in days now \u2014 but this new vision of what was to become of me made me even dizzier with worry.\n\nBurnett\u2019s lips stretched back revealing his teeth. \u201cSure you don\u2019t want to go out the airlock now?\u201d\n\nto be continued \u2026","de_DE":"Das Summen eines Schiffes Quantensto\u00dfes gegen meine Wange weckte mich. Auf meiner Seite liegend, dr\u00fcckte ich meine Handfl\u00e4chen gegen meine Augenh\u00f6hlen und rieb sie, bis ich wieder sehen konnte. Was auch immer mich niedergeschlagen hatte, lie\u00df mich groggy zur\u00fcck, wie jeder Gedanke musste durch einen Eimer Schlamm geleitet werden.\n\nAls ich mich aufhielt, klapperten die Fesseln gegen die T\u00fcrverkleidung. Drahtschlaufen waren um meine Handgelenke gelegt worden. Die anderen Enden wurden mit dem Boden verschraubt. Ich hatte genug Spiel, um mein Gesicht zu erreichen, aber sonst nichts.\n\nDer Pilotsitz drehte sich um und enth\u00fcllte den Rohling, der mein MobiGlas gestohlen hatte. Er trug einen marineblauen Druckanzug, ohne Handschuhe und Helm. Er stemmte seine Fingerspitzen zusammen und verengte seinen Blick auf mich, und ich f\u00fchlte mich wie Huhn in einem Stall, der zum Schlachten ausgelegt war.\n\n\"Du willst mich nicht t\u00f6ten\", sprang ich heraus.\n\nSeine Augenbraue hob sich. \"Ich wei\u00df es nicht? Erzieher mich, kleines Luder.\"\n\nIch konnte nicht anders, als den Kopf im Doppelpack zu sch\u00fctteln. Diese gelehrte Stimme aus diesem brutalen K\u00f6rper war ein Widerspruch.\n\nEs kam mir auch in den Sinn, dass es ein Fehler meinerseits war, gesprochen zu haben, bevor ich die Partitur kannte. Hinter dem Rohling verbirgt sich die schwarze Leere des Raumes durch den Sichtbereich, bis auf einen kleinen r\u00f6tlichen Punkt, der genau in der Mitte des Bildschirms liegt. Es sah aus wie ein Planet durch den d\u00fcnnen Nimbus um ihn herum. Wahrscheinlich ein Gasriese.\n\n\"Wie ist dein Name?\" fragte ich und hielt sie hin.\n\nEr leckte seine Lippen. \" Burnett.\"\n\nEr sagte den ersten Teil seines Namens wie Grat und den zweiten Teil rollte er \u00fcber seine Zunge.\n\n\"Nun, Burnett\", antwortete ich und blickte durch das Cockpit, \"Ich bin Sorri, aber es tut mir nicht leid.\"\n\nBei meinem Witz rollte sich seine Oberlippe zur\u00fcck und zeigte seine Z\u00e4hne. \"Ich wei\u00df, wer du bist.\"\n\nRichtig. Was mich in einen gro\u00dfen Nachteil brachte. Ich wusste nicht, wer dieser Burnett war, au\u00dfer dass er mein MobiGlas gestohlen und mich entf\u00fchrt hatte.\n\nIch drehte meinen Hals, um das Bedienfeld f\u00fcr das Schiff zu sehen, was keine Hilfe war. Ich kannte den Unterschied zwischen einem sprungf\u00e4higen Schiff und einem In-System-Flieger nicht.\n\nBurnett schien zufrieden zu sein, mich wie eine Katze zu beobachten, die eine gefangene Maus beobachtet.\n\nIch suchte in meinem Ged\u00e4chtnis nach allem, was helfen k\u00f6nnte, als ich mich an das Letzte erinnerte, was Burnett zu mir gesagt hatte: Es scheint, dass Dario einen Verb\u00fcndeten gefunden hat.\n\nNun, was im tiefen Weltraum bedeutete das?\n\nMeine Augen weiteten sich, als ich die Punkte verband. \"Dario, der Typ vom Solar Jammer, hat etwas auf mein MobiGlas gelegt. Das ist es, was die Sicherheit sah. Sie h\u00e4tte mich nie gehen lassen sollen.\"\n\nDie Worte gingen an meinen Lippen vorbei, Halbwissen, Halbwissen.\n\nDie Augenwinkel von Burnett knitterten und die beengte Kabine schien noch weiter zu schrumpfen. Ich war zwei Schritte von diesem gelehrten Tier eines Mannes entfernt, und er hatte eine Klinge an der H\u00fcfte. Als ich mir den Hartmetallboden anschaute, lachte er.\n\n\"Keine Sorge. Ich werde dir nicht die Kehle durchschneiden. Dein Blut w\u00fcrde unter die Platten sickern und meine Elektronik st\u00f6ren. Wenn es Zeit ist, dich loszuwerden, werfe ich dich einfach aus der Luftschleuse.\"\n\nWann. Er sagte, wann.\n\n\"Worauf wartest du dann noch?\" fragte ich, Kinn hochgezogen, schaute direkt in seine gr\u00fcn-braunen Augen. Ich biss mir auf die Unterlippe, damit sie nicht zitterte.\n\n\"Du sahst aus wie ein Schw\u00e4tzer. Ich hoffte, du k\u00f6nntest einfach den Plan ausspucken, den du und Dario hattet, und mir die M\u00fche ersparen, dich zu foltern.\"\n\n\"Aber ich kenne ihn nicht. Ich bin nur ein Kurier f\u00fcr den FTL. Wei\u00dft du, wenn du eine Botschaft \u00fcberbringen willst, ist nichts schneller als Licht?\"\n\nDie Worte fielen auf dem Weg aus meinen Lippen \u00fcber sich selbst. Ich konnte sp\u00fcren, wie die Uhr meines Lebens bis auf die letzten Sekunden tickt.\n\nEr blinzelte und schob sich in seinem Sitz nach vorne, der mit seiner Masse den Stahlboden praktisch verbog. \"Es f\u00fchlt sich an, als w\u00fcrdest du die Wahrheit sagen. Aber vielleicht muss ich dir nur das Messer in die Hand nehmen, um sicherzustellen, dass du nicht nur ein guter L\u00fcgner bist.\"\n\n\"Was willst du wissen? Ich habe nichts zu verlieren, oder?\"\n\nBurnett schien mein Angebot in Betracht zu ziehen.\n\n\"Du kennst Dario nicht?\" fragte er nach einiger Zeit.\n\n\"Nein\", sagte ich. \"Ich habe auf dem Ausflug mit ihm gesprochen, meistens am Anfang. Er muss mein MobiGlas gehackt haben, als ich schlief. Leg die Akte darauf. Ich sch\u00e4tze, was auch immer es ist, es ist wichtig?\"\n\n\"Mach dir keine Sorgen um deinen kleinen Kopf.\"\n\nIch hatte einen Moment der Einsicht. \"Er ist dein Rivale, nicht wahr? Du hast herausgefunden, was er vorhatte. Benutzen Sie mich, um die Datei an der lokalen Sicherheit vorbei zu bringen. Also hast du einfach auf dem Planeten gewartet und ihn gepackt.\"\n\nBurnett nickte zustimmend. \"Es schadet nicht, dir so viel zu sagen. Neue Kuriere erhalten nie wichtige Dateien, in der Tat, in der Regel erhalten sie gef\u00e4lschtes Material, um sie zu testen. Sie hatten also nicht die erstklassige Sicherheit, die diese Art von Daten bietet. Als ich Dario erwischte, wie er in deinem Hintergrund schn\u00fcffelte, riskierte ich, dass er diesen Trick wieder aufgriff.\"\n\nDann stand er auf und der Stuhl st\u00f6hnte unter seiner Anstrengung. Er musste seinen Kopf geduckt halten, um nicht an die Decke zu sto\u00dfen. Als er seine Lippen zusammendr\u00fcckte und einen seufzenden Atemzug aus seiner Nase blies, verdrehte sich mein Magen zu einem Knoten.\n\n\"Und jetzt ist es Zeit, sich zu verabschieden. Es tut mir wirklich leid, dass Dario dich benutzt hat, aber du h\u00e4ttest mir nicht folgen sollen\", sagte er und packte einen Schraubenzieher vom Sitz neben seinem.\n\nAls er auf mich zukam, dachte ich dar\u00fcber nach, ihn wie eine wilde Katze zu kratzen und zu krallen, aber das w\u00fcrde ihn nur w\u00fctend machen. Ich musste meinen Verstand \u00fcber mich behalten, aber es war hart, wirklich hart.\n\nEr lehnte sich nach unten und fing an, das Kabel ohne Bedenken vom Boden zu l\u00f6sen. Ich f\u00fchlte mich wie ein Kind neben ihm. Das Messer an seinem G\u00fcrtel war nur eine Arml\u00e4nge entfernt, aber ich wusste, dass er schneller sein w\u00fcrde als ich.\n\nIch blickte aus dem Sichtfenster an der Vorderseite des Schiffes. Der r\u00f6tliche Gasriese war nun ein anst\u00e4ndiges Objekt auf der Leinwand, dessen Merkmale zu erscheinen begannen.\n\n\"Du wirst die Daten an ein paar Piraten verkaufen, was?\"\n\nIch grinste und nickte mit dem Kopf zur Vorderseite des Schiffes, aber ich hatte Angst, dass es als Amateur abl\u00e4uft. Sein rechtes Auge zuckte.\n\n\"Irgendwie\", sagte er und trat auf das erste Kabel, damit ich meinen Arm nicht bewegen konnte, und begann mit der Arbeit am zweiten.\n\n\"Ich wette, sie werden nicht gl\u00fccklich sein, wenn die UEE auftaucht\", sagte ich.\n\nEr verengte seinen Blick, als er das zweite Kabel l\u00f6ste, aber er arbeitete weiter. Er packte die Enden und zog mich hoch. Er zog mich hinter sich in die Hauptkabine hinter dem Cockpit.\n\nAuf einen Tisch geworfen wurde der Inhalt meines Rucksacks, einschlie\u00dflich der anderen MobiGlas und meiner Kontaktlinsen. Im hinteren Teil des Raumes befand sich eine Luftschleuse. Burnett f\u00fchrte mich zur T\u00fcr und begann, seine Druckhandschuhe anzuziehen und sie festzuhalten. Jeder Schnappschuss des Handschuhs, der sich mit seinem Anzug verbindet, h\u00e4rtete meinen Bauch aus, um zu f\u00fchren.\n\nDann zog er seinen Schraubendreher heraus und fing an, die Klammern um meine Handgelenke zu l\u00f6sen. Seine fleischige Hand, auch mit dem Druckhandschuh, war ein Schraubstock um meine Arme. Ich h\u00e4tte mich \u00fcber Prellungen beschwert, aber es w\u00fcrde nicht lange dauern.\n\n\"Du wei\u00dft, dass das nicht funktionieren wird\", sagte ich, aber Burnett arbeitete weiter. \"Ich w\u00e4re nicht hinter dir her gewesen, wenn ich nicht einen Fail Safe h\u00e4tte.\"\n\nEr zuckte mit den Schultern und zog die Schraube aus der ersten Klemme. Das Metall klapperte auf dem Boden in der N\u00e4he meines Fu\u00dfes.\n\n\"Ich bin nicht dumm\", sagte ich. \"Ich habe herausgefunden, wo dein Lander ziemlich schnell war, nicht wahr?\"\n\nEr hielt mit der Schraube halbwegs aus der zweiten Klemme heraus. Die Salz- und Pfefferstoppeln an seinem Kinn b\u00fcndelten sich, als er die Stirn runzelte.\n\n\"Rede\", sagte er.\n\n\"FTL. Der Kurierdienst. Sie haben zwei Fail Safes. Einer in der Firma gab MobiGlas heraus -\" Ich erwischte ihn, wie er auf seine Brusttasche blickte, \"- die andere, die sie irgendwo in uns injizieren. Es sendet ein Leuchtfeuer, wenn wir sterben, wenn das MobiGlas zerst\u00f6rt wird oder aus anderen Gr\u00fcnden. Es k\u00f6nnte sogar gerade \u00fcbertragen werden.\"\n\nBurnett knurrte und klopfte mit den Fingerhandschuhen auf sein MobiGlas. Als er ein Grunzen der Befriedigung machte, wusste ich, dass er nach Kommunikationen gescannt hatte und es leer werden w\u00fcrde.\n\nBurnett blickte in meine Richtung und entfernte die letzte Schraube. Als es auf dem Boden aufschlug, zuckte ich.\n\nEr lie\u00df meine Handgelenke los, also trat ich zur\u00fcck und rieb das Gef\u00fchl zur\u00fcck in sie. Nadeln fuhren meinen Arm hoch, also sch\u00fcttelte ich sie, bis sie weg waren.\n\nDie ganze Zeit beobachtete mich Burnett, eine Hand schlaff den Schraubendreher haltend, die andere am Griff des Messers.\n\nIch hatte das ungesunde Gef\u00fchl, dass er daran dachte, mich aufzuschneiden, um nach dem nicht existierenden Leuchtfeuer zu suchen.\n\nDas Schiff schickte eine Ansage \u00fcber die Lautsprecher: \"Erreichen des Ziels. Ankunft in f\u00fcnf Minuten.\"\n\nAn der Vorderseite des Schiffes l\u00f6schte der Gasriese den Bildschirm aus, aber in der Mitte schwebte ein gr\u00e4ulicher Eismond. Unser Ziel, nahm ich an.\n\nBurnett griff nach mir, und ich dachte, er w\u00fcrde mich gegen die Luftschleuse schlagen. Stattdessen stie\u00df er mir in die Brust und knurrte.\n\n\"Gut. Ich werfe dich nicht aus der Luftschleuse. Aber du wirst dir w\u00fcnschen, ich h\u00e4tte es bald getan.\"\n\nIch wollte schlucken, konnte aber die Spucke nicht runterkriegen. \"Warum das so ist?\"\n\n\"Hast du schon mal von den Sternenteufeln geh\u00f6rt?\", fragte er.\n\nIch sch\u00fcttelte den Kopf.\n\n\" WiDoW Junkies. Sie lassen SLAM-K\u00f6pfe wie Heilige aussehen. Anstatt dich zu t\u00f6ten, verkaufe ich dich einfach an sie. Machen Sie ein wenig Gewinn, und wenn sie Sie versehentlich in ihren speziellen Schmerzorgien t\u00f6ten, wird Ihr kleines Leuchtfeuer, wenn es echt ist, die UEE auf ihre von Maden befallenen K\u00f6pfe herunterbringen. Aber das wird mir egal sein, denn ich werde schon lange weg sein.\"\n\nZu meiner Schande wurden meine Beine geschw\u00e4cht und ich brach gegen die T\u00fcr zusammen und hielt mich halbwegs gegen die Luftschleuse. Meine Schw\u00e4che war vor allem der Hunger - ich hatte seit Tagen nichts gegessen -, aber diese neue Vision von dem, was aus mir werden sollte, machte mich vor Sorge noch schwindliger.\n\nBurnetts Lippen dehnten sich nach hinten aus und enth\u00fcllten seine Z\u00e4hne. \"Sicher, dass du jetzt nicht aus der Luftschleuse gehen willst?\"\n\nwird fortgesetzt.....","zh_CN":"The hum of a ship\u2019s quantum drive against my cheek woke me. Lying on my side, I pressed my palms against my eye sockets and rubbed until I could see again. Whatever had knocked me out left me groggy, like every thought had to be routed through a bucket of mud.\n\nWhen I sat up, the restraints rattled against the door panel. Wire loops had been fastened around my wrists. The other ends were screwed to the floor. I had enough play to reach my face, but nothing more.\n\nThe pilot seat swiveled around, revealing the brute who\u2019d stolen my MobiGlas. He wore a navy blue pressure suit, minus the gloves and helmet. He steepled his fingertips together, narrowing his gaze at me, and I felt like chicken in a coop being sized up for slaughter.\n\n\u201cYou don\u2019t want to kill me,\u201d I blurted out.\n\nHis eyebrow raised. \u201cI don\u2019t? Educate me, little scrum.\u201d\n\nI couldn\u2019t help but shake my head in a double-take. That erudite voice coming from that brutish body was a contradiction.\n\nIt also occurred to me that it was an error on my part to have spoken before I knew the score. Behind the brute was the black emptiness of space through the view screen, except for a little reddish dot, dead center on the screen. It looked like a planet by the thin nimbus around it. Probably a gas giant.\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s your name?\u201d I asked, stalling.\n\nHe licked his lips. \u201cBurnett.\u201d\n\nHe said the first part of his name like burr and the second part he rolled over his tongue.\n\n\u201cWell, Burnett,\u201d I replied, glancing around the cockpit, \u201cI\u2019m Sorri, but not sorry.\u201d\n\nAt my joke, his upper lip curled back, showing his teeth. \u201cI know who you are.\u201d\n\nRight. Which put me at a major disadvantage. I didn\u2019t know who this Burnett was, except that he\u2019d stolen my MobiGlas and kidnapped me.\n\nI craned my neck to see the control panel for the ship, which was no help. I didn\u2019t know the difference between a jump-capable ship and just an in-system flier.\n\nBurnett seemed content to watch me like a cat observing a trapped mouse.\n\nI searched my memory for anything that might help, when I remembered the last thing Burnett had said to me: It seems Dario found himself an ally.\n\nNow what in the deep space did that mean?\n\nMy eyes widened when I connected the dots. \u201cDario, the guy from the Solar Jammer, put something on my MobiGlas. That\u2019s what Security saw. She should have never let me go.\u201d\n\nThe words trailed past my lips, half-realization, half- regret.\n\nThe corners of Burnett\u2019s eyes creased and the cramped cabin seemed to shrink even further. I was two steps from this erudite beast of a man, and he had a blade on his hip. When I looked at the hard metal flooring, he laughed.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t worry. I won\u2019t cut your throat. Your blood would seep under the plates and interfere with my electronics. When it\u2019s time to get rid of you, I\u2019ll just throw you out the airlock.\u201d\n\nWhen. He said when.\n\n\u201cThen what are you waiting for?\u201d I asked, chin raised, looking directly in his green-brown eyes. I bit my lower lip to keep it from trembling.\n\n\u201cYou looked like a talker. I hoped you might just spit out whatever plan you and Dario had, saving me the trouble of torturing you.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut I don\u2019t know him. I\u2019m just a courier for FTL. You know, when you need a message delivered, nothing\u2019s faster than light?\u201d\n\nThe words fell over themselves on the way out of my lips. I could feel my life\u2019s clock ticking down to the final seconds.\n\nHe squinted and shifted forward in his seat, which with his bulk, practically bent the steel bottom. \u201cIt feels like you\u2019re telling the truth. But I might just need to put the knife to you, to make sure you\u2019re not simply a good liar.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat do you want to know? I\u2019ve got nothing to lose, right?\u201d\n\nBurnett seemed to consider my offer.\n\n\u201cYou don\u2019t know Dario?\u201d he asked after a time.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d I said. \u201cI spoke to him on the trip out, mostly at the beginning. He must have hacked my MobiGlas when I was asleep. Put that file on it. I guess whatever it is, it\u2019s important?\u201d\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t worry your little head about it.\u201d\n\nI had a moment of insight. \u201cHe\u2019s your rival, isn\u2019t he? You figured out what he was going to do. Use me to get the file past local security. So you just waited on planet and grabbed it.\u201d\n\nBurnett nodded in agreement. \u201cNo harm in telling you that much. New couriers are never given important files, in fact, usually they\u2019re given fake stuff to test them. So you didn\u2019t have the high class security afforded that kind of data. When I caught Dario sniffing into your background, I took a chance that he\u2019d pull this trick again.\u201d\n\nThen he stood up and the chair groaned beneath his effort. He had to keep his head ducked to keep from hitting the ceiling. When he pressed his lips together and blew a sighing breath out his nose, my stomach twisted into a knot.\n\n\u201cAnd now it\u2019s time to say goodbye. I\u2019m really sorry Dario used you, but you shouldn\u2019t have followed me,\u201d he said, grabbing a screwdriver from the seat next to his.\n\nWhen he advanced on me, I thought about scratching and clawing at him like a frenzied cat, but that would only make him mad. I needed to keep my wits about me, but it was hard, really hard.\n\nHe leaned down and began unscrewing the cable from the floor without the least bit of concern. I felt like a child next to him. The knife on his belt was only an arm\u2019s reach away, but I knew he\u2019d be faster than me.\n\nI looked out the viewscreen at the front of the ship. The reddish gas giant was now a decent-sized object on the screen, its features beginning to appear.\n\n\u201cYou\u2019re going to sell the data to some pirates, huh?\u201d\n\nI smirked and nodded my head towards the front of the ship, but I was afraid it came off as amateur. His right eye twitched.\n\n\u201cSort of,\u201d he said, stepping on the first cable so I couldn\u2019t move my arm and starting work on the second one.\n\n\u201cI bet they won\u2019t be happy when the UEE shows up,\u201d I said.\n\nHe narrowed his gaze as he loosened the second cable, but kept working. He grabbed the ends and yanked me up. He pulled me behind him into the main cabin behind the cockpit.\n\nDumped out on a table were the contents of my backpack, including the other MobiGlas and my personals. At the back of the room was an airlock. Burnett led me to the door and began putting on his pressure gloves, sealing them tight. Each snap of the glove connecting to his suit hardened my stomach to lead.\n\nThen he pulled his screwdriver out and started undoing the clamps around my wrists. His meaty hand, even with the pressure glove, was a vise around my arms. I would have complained about bruising, but it wasn\u2019t going to matter long.\n\n\u201cYou know this isn\u2019t going to work,\u201d I said, but Burnett kept working. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t have come after you if I didn\u2019t have a fail safe.\u201d\n\nHe shrugged and tugged the screw out of the first clamp. The metal clattered onto the floor near my foot.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m not dumb,\u201d I said. \u201cI figured out where your lander was pretty quickly, didn\u2019t I?\u201d\n\nHe paused with the screw halfway out of the second clamp. The salt and pepper stubble on his chin bunched up as he frowned.\n\n\u201cTalk,\u201d he said.\n\n\u201cFTL. The courier service. They have two fail safes. One in the company issued MobiGlas \u2014\u201d I caught him glancing at his chest pocket, \u201c\u2014 the other they inject into us somewhere. It emits a beacon if we die, or if the MobiGlas is destroyed, or any of several other reasons. It might even be transmitting right now.\u201d\n\nBurnett growled and tapped on his MobiGlas with his gloved fingers. When he made a grunt of satisfaction, I knew he\u2019d scanned for communications and it\u2019d come up empty.\n\nBurnett scowled in my direction and finished removing the last screw. When it hit the floor, I twitched.\n\nHe released my wrists, so I stood back and rubbed the feeling back into them. Needles ran up my arm, so I shook them until they went away.\n\nThe whole time, Burnett was watching me, one hand limply holding the screwdriver, the other on the handle of the knife.\n\nI had the unhealthy feeling that he was thinking about cutting me open to look for the non-existent beacon.\n\nThe ship sent an announcement over the speakers, \u201cApproaching destination. Arrival in five minutes.\u201d\n\nAt the front of the ship, the gas giant blotted out the screen, but hovering in the middle was a grayish ice moon. Our destination, I assumed.\n\nBurnett reached towards me, and I thought he was going to slam me against the airlock. Instead, he poked me in the chest and growled.\n\n\u201cFine. I\u2019m not throwing you out the airlock. But you\u2019re going to wish I had before long.\u201d\n\nI wanted to swallow, but couldn\u2019t get the spit down. \u201cWhy\u2019s that?\u201d\n\n\u201cHave you ever heard of the Stardevils?\u201d he asked.\n\nI shook my head.\n\n\u201cWiDoW junkies. They make SLAM-heads look like saints. Rather than kill you, I\u2019ll just sell you to them. Make a little profit, and when they accidentally kill you in their special pain orgies, your little beacon, if it\u2019s real, will bring the UEE down on their maggot-infested heads. But that won\u2019t matter to me because I\u2019ll be long gone.\u201d\n\nMuch to my shame, my legs weakened and I collapsed against the door, halfway holding myself up against the airlock. My weakness was mostly hunger \u2014 I hadn\u2019t eaten in days now \u2014 but this new vision of what was to become of me made me even dizzier with worry.\n\nBurnett\u2019s lips stretched back revealing his teeth. \u201cSure you don\u2019t want to go out the airlock now?\u201d\n\nto be continued \u2026"},"links_count":0,"comment_count":76,"created_at":"2014-05-09T00:00:00+00:00","created_at_human":"11 years ago"},"meta":{"processed_at":"2026-05-08 10:44:06","valid_relations":["images","links"],"prev_id":13858,"next_id":13860}}