{"data":{"id":14078,"title":"Orbital Supermax: Episode Seven","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/comm-link\/serialized-fiction\/14078-Orbital-Supermax-Episode-Seven","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-links\/14078","api_public_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/comm-links\/14078","channel":"Undefined","category":"Undefined","series":"Orbital Supermax","images":[{"id":1947,"name":"OSM_FI2v4a.jpg","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/media\/hqo978t1u2njxr\/source\/OSM_FI2v4a.jpg","alt":"","size":1895039,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","last_modified":"2014-07-03T22:49:29+00:00","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/1947","similar_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/1947\/similar"}],"images_count":1,"translations":{"en_EN":"I once knew a man who\u2019d worked at OSP-4 since the day they set her in space and gave her a spin. He told me that the only thing that set apart Forensic Psychiatry from the Political Activities Wing was that the crazies in the PAW had a cause.\n\nWe had never meant to go there, but when our elevator stopped and all the lights turned red, Wes Morgan pried open the doors and we found that the attack by the Nova Dogs had blown open the shaft. We\u2019d been saved from the vacuum of space by a piece of steel that had peeled off one wall and lodged underneath the car.\n\nWe were lodged in the shaft, but we could all detect the gentle hiss of escaping air and we stepped off carefully. No man wanted to be the last to disembark and risk a short trip into the black. I let them go, and eventually only Cayla Wyrick and I remained. It was fitting in a way. She was my therapist, the woman into whose custody I had been given after being stripped of my rank. She looked at me and I looked at her, and neither of us wanted to go before the other. In the end, she had more steel in her than I did, and she followed me out of the shaft.\n\nRight into the barrel of a gun.\n\nOur assailants, like most of our group, wore prison orange, except that they wore red suns painted on bands of white cloth on their arms. They\u2019d been waiting by the door of the escalator, capturing and disarming us one-by-one as we came through.\n\nThey took us through the prison block and up a flight of stairs. There, striding around a control center consisting of hacked notepads and vidscreens that had once been mounted in guard posts, was a Tevarin. He was tall and well-muscled, with grayish skin, and he owed his freedom to us.\n\n\u201cWe meet again, Yusaf Asari,\u201d said Morgan cockily. By this time we\u2019d all been shackled with plastic handcuffs, and his wrists were bound before him. Several more Tevarin prisoners from the PAW stood nearby, holding onto our guns for us.\n\n\u201cWe do indeed,\u201d responded Asari. \u201cWhat are you doing here, Morgan?\u201d\n\n\u201cSightseeing. You know, snap a few pictures, have a drink with the locals. That kind of thing.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe\u2019re here by accident,\u201d Wyrick quickly interjected. The small blonde woman in nylons and a suit looked out of place in the sea of orange and blue uniforms that made up our group, but she\u2019d become as much a part of it as any of us. \u201cOur elevator \u2014\u201d\n\n\u201c\u2014 I don\u2019t care what brought you here. I want to know where you\u2019re going.\u201d Asari\u2019s face was stone and his accent made him stress his syllables in all the wrong places. \u201cWe are here and the pirates are out there and no one travels between us. Except you. Why? What are you seeking?\u201d\n\nThe Nova Dogs, a group of pirates captained by one Martin Kilkenny, were cannibals who sought one particular prisoner named Martin Browning who no one had ever heard of and who were willing to blow up the station to find him. They\u2019d struck without warning, targeting command centers and barracks with pinpoint precision. It was because of them that Cayla Wyrick, who held the civilian rank of Lieutenant, had been promoted by OSP-4\u2019s computer to Warden. She was the most valuable thing on the station right now, and I had no idea if Asari knew it or not.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019re getting off the station,\u201d said Morgan simply. My chest tightened. What the hell was Morgan doing? The last thing we needed to do was to tell these guys the truth.\n\nThe Tevarin who surrounded us grunted in laughter. All except Asari. \u201cI know you too well to believe that\u2019s a joke. How are you going to accomplish that?\u201d\n\nMorgan nodded at Herschel Konicek, who still wore the hospital gown he\u2019d had on when we\u2019d rescued him from Forensic Psychiatry. \u201cHerby\u2019s my mechanic. He\u2019s going to fix a couple of mothballed fighters Nylund knows about, and we\u2019re going to use them to run the blockade.\u201d\n\nI had to bite my tongue to keep from asking Morgan just what in the hell he was trying to prove.\n\nAsari absorbed this information impassively. \u201cWhat makes you think we won\u2019t use those fighters ourselves?\u201d\n\nMorgan shrugged, an awkward motion considering his hands were bound in front of him. \u201cHerby won\u2019t work for you. That right, Herby?\u201d\n\nKonicek, still coming down from an involuntary high from the drugs the other inmates had fed him, shrugged and wiped at an ear with his bound hands.\n\n\u201cWe have our own mechanics.\u201d\n\n\u201cNot like Herby.\u201d\n\nAsari looked at Konicek, who now crouched on his haunches, rocking back and forth. \u201cEvidently.\u201d\n\nOne of the prisoners in the back started to say something, but he was violently cut off by a Tevarin who shoved the butt of his rifle into his guts. I was glad I hadn\u2019t spoken up.\n\n\u201cWe saved your life,\u201d said Morgan quietly. \u201cApparently, the Tevarin have a short memory.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Tevarin have a long memory.\u201d Asari\u2019s brow creased. \u201cMy people remember the Battle of Idris IV and we remember the day when Corath\u2019Thai \u2014\u201d\n\n\u201cEnough with the performance, Yusaf. Two years of exchanging chess moves on bits of paper tied to strings and all of a sudden I\u2019m suppressing your people?\u201d Morgan took two steps towards Asari and every rifle in the room raised at once. He stopped and sighed. \u201cNo one\u2019s got more sympathy for your cause than I do. When we get off this hunk of junk, the first thing I\u2019ll do is send your people a note with the station\u2019s coordinates. You know that.\u201d\n\nAsari considered this as he looked at his men, meeting each of their gazes. \u201cChess is chess. But I don\u2019t trust you Morgan. Leave the girl here.\u201d\n\n\u201cSure, done. Now let\u2019s get these cuffs off,\u201d said Morgan.\n\nI was offended by just how fast he\u2019d agreed to Asari\u2019s terms. He\u2019d sold out Wyrick without a second thought. I couldn\u2019t contain myself. \u201cWe\u2019re not leaving Cayla with you \u2014\u201d\n\nA rifle butt to the solar plexus silenced me a lot quicker than I\u2019d like to admit. I spasmed and found myself on the floor having to struggle not to vomit repeatedly.\n\nMorgan\u2019s voice sounded fuzzy over the pounding of blood in my ears. \u201cNice going, kid. The idea was to convince them she wasn\u2019t valuable as a hostage.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat,\u201d said Asari as I struggled to my feet, \u201cis exactly why I don\u2019t trust you. The girl stays. And you uphold your end of the deal.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, I \u2014\u201d\n\nAnother blow from the same rifle sent me back to my knees. I didn\u2019t know why I got back up again. Sure I\u2019d come to respect Wyrick during our escape attempt, but it wasn\u2019t like me to risk my own neck for someone else. It wasn\u2019t that I was selfish. It\u2019s just that the last time I took a risk, someone very close to me died. Being a bastard is generally safer for everyone involved. So why was I putting myself out there for her? Was it because I respected how she\u2019d bested twenty armed men with only the sound of her voice at the armory? Or was it because she\u2019d trusted me enough to sign me into the system at the server room, knowing that I was going to use that access for my own purposes?\n\n\u201cI\u2019m \u2014 oh for chrissakes let me speak,\u201d I barked as I saw the rifle butt rise again. Asari looked at me and then nodded at the guard. The rifle lowered. \u201cShe was the one who saved your life. Without her access codes we\u2019d all be dead. And, despite everything, she has never left a man behind. No one. Not multiple-murderers, not convicted rapists, not even a former quartermaster with sticky fingers. So there isn\u2019t a man among us \u2014\u201d I looked around at the other prisoners and found a surprising number of them nodding back, \u201c\u2014 who\u2019ll leave her behind now. If you ever want your people to know which sorry ass scrap of metal you got yourself imprisoned in, you\u2019ll let us go.\u201d\n\nAs far as impassioned speeches go, it was one of my best. Asari, whose job it was as leader of the Tevarin minority in OSP-4 to give impassioned speeches, was not impressed. \u201cOr we could just kill you all and we\u2019re no worse off than we were before.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll stay,\u201d said Wyrick. \u201cI can\u2019t fly a fighter or a transport and I\u2019ve never been much of a mechanic. And I won\u2019t shoot anyone.\u201d She\u2019d gotten to her feet and, though she was the shortest person in the room by at least a half a head, somehow, she seemed to loom larger. \u201cYou don\u2019t need me to get off this station.\u201d\n\nI was about to protest, not that we needed her access codes to get off the station or anything. Something more personal. Luckily she cut me off before I embarrassed myself. \u201cYou have everything you need to get these boys where they need to go, Lieutenant Avery Nylund. Just remember to send a search party for me when this is all over, okay?\u201d\n\nAnd just like that we left her there. I kept waiting for Morgan, our ultra-competent mercenary, to propose a plan to rescue her. As soon as we got out of earshot he\u2019d suggest we storm the air ducts, or take out the guards with knock-out gas. But the plan never materialized. Asari\u2019s men marched us to the nearest working elevator and gave us machine guns instead of the guns we\u2019d appropriated from the armory and sent us on our way.\n\nI was still numb when we arrived at Cargo Deck 1C, which housed the mothballed fighters and reserve transport that would get us off the station and past Kilkenny\u2019s blockade. Of course, it was locked, and of course I pointed this out to Morgan. \u201cThis is why we need Wyrick. She\u2019s got all the security codes.\u201d\n\nMorgan stepped away from the door console and gave the door a thump of disapproval. \u201cNo. Wyrick\u2019s too smart for that. She would have known we wouldn\u2019t get far without the codes.\u201d He scratched his head and then looked at me. \u201cShe called you lieutenant, didn\u2019t she?\u201d\n\nShe had indeed. She\u2019d called me \u2018Lieutenant Avery Nylund\u2019 for the first time ever. Even before I\u2019d been convicted and we\u2019d met each other in passing, she\u2019d merely called me by my rank. And then it hit me. I\u2019d wiped away the records of my conviction in the server room, and the computer must have then automatically restored my rank.\n\nIt was with some satisfaction that I approached the door console. \u201cVoice Print: Lieutenant Avery Nylund. Passcode: How now brown cow.\u201d\n\nOne of the hardened criminals in the back of our group burst out laughing and I felt my cheeks go red. \u201cWhat? I like the way it rhymes.\u201d\n\nto be continued \u2026","de_DE":"Ich kannte einmal einen Mann, der bei OSP-4 gearbeitet hatte, seit dem Tag, an dem sie sie ins All brachten und ihr einen Spin gaben. Er sagte mir, dass das Einzige, was die Forensische Psychiatrie vom Political Activities Wing unterschied, war, dass die Verr\u00fcckten in der PAW eine Ursache hatten.\n\nWir hatten nie vor, dorthin zu fahren, aber als unser Aufzug anhielt und alle Lichter rot wurden, \u00f6ffnete Wes Morgan die T\u00fcren und wir fanden heraus, dass der Angriff der Nova Dogs den Schaft ge\u00f6ffnet hatte. Wir waren durch ein St\u00fcck Stahl, das von einer Wand abgezogen und unter dem Auto untergebracht war, aus dem Vakuum des Weltraums gerettet worden.\n\nWir waren im Schacht untergebracht, aber wir konnten alle das sanfte Rauschen der entweichenden Luft wahrnehmen, und wir traten vorsichtig ab. Kein Mann wollte der Letzte sein, der von Bord geht und einen kurzen Ausflug in die schwarzen Zahlen wagt. Ich lie\u00df sie gehen, und schlie\u00dflich blieben nur Cayla Wyrick und ich. Es war in gewisser Weise passend. Sie war meine Therapeutin, die Frau, in deren Gewahrsam ich war, nachdem ich von meinem Rang entbunden worden war. Sie sah mich an und ich sah sie an, und keiner von uns wollte vor dem anderen gehen. Am Ende hatte sie mehr Stahl in sich als ich, und sie folgte mir aus dem Schaft.\n\nDirekt in den Lauf einer Waffe.\n\nUnsere Angreifer trugen, wie die meisten unserer Gruppe, Gef\u00e4ngnisorange, au\u00dfer dass sie rote Sonnen trugen, die auf wei\u00dfe Stoffb\u00e4nder auf den Armen gemalt waren. Sie hatten an der T\u00fcr der Rolltreppe gewartet und uns einzeln gefangen genommen und entwaffnet, als wir durchkamen.\n\nSie brachten uns durch den Gef\u00e4ngnisblock und eine Treppe hinauf. Dort lief ein Tevarin um ein Kontrollzentrum herum, das aus gehackten Notizb\u00fcchern und Vidscreens bestand, die einst in Wachposten montiert waren. Er war gro\u00df und gut bemuskelt, mit gr\u00e4ulicher Haut, und er verdankte uns seine Freiheit.\n\n\"Wir treffen uns wieder, Yusaf Asari\", sagte Morgan eingebildet. Zu diesem Zeitpunkt waren wir alle mit Kunststoff-Handschellen gefesselt, und seine Handgelenke waren vor ihm gefesselt. Mehrere weitere Tevarin-H\u00e4ftlinge der PAW standen in der N\u00e4he und hielten unsere Waffen f\u00fcr uns.\n\n\"Das tun wir in der Tat\", antwortete Asari. \"Was machst du hier, Morgan?\"\n\n\"Sightseeing. Du wei\u00dft schon, ein paar Bilder machen, mit den Einheimischen einen trinken. So was in der Art.\"\n\n\"Wir sind zuf\u00e4llig hier\", mischte Wyrick schnell ein. Die kleine blonde Frau in Nylons und einem Anzug sah im Meer der orange-blauen Uniformen, aus denen sich unsere Gruppe zusammensetzte, fehl am Platz aus, aber sie war genauso ein Teil davon geworden wie jeder von uns. \"Unser Aufzug -\"\n\n\"- Es ist mir egal, was dich hierher gebracht hat. Ich will wissen, wohin du gehst.\" Asaris Gesicht war aus Stein und sein Akzent lie\u00df ihn seine Silben an den falschen Stellen betonen. \"Wir sind hier und die Piraten sind da drau\u00dfen und niemand reist zwischen uns. Au\u00dfer dir. Warum? Was suchst du?\"\n\nDie Nova Dogs, eine Gruppe von Piraten, die von einem Martin Kilkenny angef\u00fchrt wurde, waren Kannibalen, die einen bestimmten Gefangenen namens Martin Browning suchten, von dem niemand je geh\u00f6rt hatte und der bereit war, die Station zu sprengen, um ihn zu finden. Sie hatten ohne Vorwarnung zugeschlagen und zielen punktgenau auf Kommandozentralen und Kasernen. Es war wegen ihnen, dass Cayla Wyrick, die den zivilen Rang eines Leutnants innehatte, durch den Computer von OSP-4 zum Direktor bef\u00f6rdert worden war. Sie war im Moment das Wertvollste auf der Station, und ich hatte keine Ahnung, ob Asari es wusste oder nicht.\n\n\"Wir steigen vom Bahnhof aus\", sagte Morgan einfach. Meine Brust wurde enger. Was zum Teufel hat Morgan gemacht? Das Letzte, was wir tun mussten, war, diesen Typen die Wahrheit zu sagen.\n\nDer Tevarin, der uns umgab, grunzte vor Lachen. Alle au\u00dfer Asari. \"Ich kenne dich zu gut, um zu glauben, dass das ein Witz ist. Wie willst du das erreichen?\"\n\nMorgan nickte Herschel Konicek zu, der immer noch das Krankenhauskleid trug, das er anhatte, als wir ihn aus der forensischen Psychiatrie gerettet hatten. \"Herby ist mein Mechaniker. Er wird ein paar eingemottete K\u00e4mpfer reparieren, von denen Nylund wei\u00df, und wir werden sie benutzen, um die Blockade durchzuf\u00fchren.\"\n\nIch musste mir auf die Zunge bei\u00dfen, um Morgan nicht zu fragen, was zum Teufel er beweisen wollte.\n\nAsari nahm diese Informationen unmerklich auf. \"Was l\u00e4sst dich denken, dass wir diese K\u00e4mpfer nicht selbst einsetzen werden?\"\n\nMorgan zuckte mit den Achseln, eine unangenehme Bewegung, wenn man bedenkt, dass seine H\u00e4nde vor ihm gefesselt waren. \"Herby wird nicht f\u00fcr dich arbeiten. Stimmt das, Herby?\"\n\nKonicek, der immer noch von einem unfreiwilligen Hoch von den Drogen herunterkam, die die anderen H\u00e4ftlinge ihm gegeben hatten, zuckte mit den Achseln und wischte mit den H\u00e4nden an einem Ohr.\n\n\"Wir haben unsere eigenen Mechaniker.\"\n\n\"Nicht wie Herby.\"\n\nAsari blickte zu Konicek, der sich nun auf seinen H\u00fcften hockte und hin und her schaukelte. \"Offensichtlich.\"\n\nEiner der Gefangenen auf der R\u00fcckseite fing an, etwas zu sagen, aber er wurde gewaltsam von einem Tevarin abgeschnitten, der ihm den Kolben seines Gewehrs in den Bauch schob. Ich war froh, dass ich mich nicht gemeldet hatte.\n\n\"Wir haben dein Leben gerettet\", sagte Morgan leise. \"Anscheinend haben die Tevarin ein kurzes Ged\u00e4chtnis.\"\n\n\"Die Tevarin haben ein langes Ged\u00e4chtnis.\" Asari's Stirn ist zerknittert. \"Mein Volk erinnert sich an die Schlacht von Idris IV. und wir erinnern uns an den Tag, als Corath'Thai -\"\n\n\"Genug mit der Vorstellung, Yusaf. Zwei Jahre Austausch von Schachz\u00fcgen auf Papier, das an Schn\u00fcre gebunden ist, und pl\u00f6tzlich unterdr\u00fccke ich deine Leute?\" Morgan machte zwei Schritte in Richtung Asari und jedes Gewehr im Raum hob sich gleichzeitig. Er blieb stehen und seufzte. \"Niemand hat mehr Verst\u00e4ndnis f\u00fcr deine Sache als ich. Wenn wir von diesem Schrott loskommen, werde ich als Erstes deinen Leuten eine Nachricht mit den Koordinaten der Station schicken. Das wei\u00dft du doch.\"\n\nAsari betrachtete dies, als er seine M\u00e4nner ansah und jeden ihrer Blicke traf. \"Schach ist Schach. Aber ich vertraue dir nicht, Morgan. Lass das M\u00e4dchen hier.\"\n\n\"Sicher, fertig. Jetzt lass uns diese Handschellen abnehmen\", sagte Morgan.\n\nIch war beleidigt, wie schnell er den Bedingungen von Asari zugestimmt hatte. Er hatte Wyrick ohne zu \u00fcberlegen verkauft. Ich konnte mich nicht beherrschen. \"Wir lassen Cayla nicht bei dir.\"\n\nEin Gewehrkolben zum Solarplexus brachte mich viel schneller zum Schweigen, als ich zugeben m\u00f6chte. Ich krampfte und lag auf dem Boden und musste k\u00e4mpfen, um nicht immer wieder zu erbrechen.\n\nMorgans Stimme klang verschwommen \u00fcber das Schlagen von Blut in meinen Ohren. \"Gut gemacht, Junge. Die Idee war, sie davon zu \u00fcberzeugen, dass sie als Geisel nicht wertvoll ist.\"\n\n\"Das\", sagte Asari, als ich auf die Beine kam, \"ist genau der Grund, warum ich dir nicht traue. Das M\u00e4dchen bleibt. Und du h\u00e4ltst dich an deinen Teil des Deals.\"\n\n\"Nein, ich...\"\n\nEin weiterer Schlag aus dem gleichen Gewehr schickte mich zur\u00fcck auf die Knie. Ich wusste nicht, warum ich wieder aufgestanden bin. Sicherlich w\u00fcrde ich Wyrick w\u00e4hrend unseres Fluchtversuchs respektieren, aber es war nicht meine Art, meinen eigenen Hals f\u00fcr jemand anderen zu riskieren. Es war nicht so, dass ich egoistisch war. Es ist nur so, dass beim letzten Mal, als ich ein Risiko eingegangen bin, jemand gestorben ist, der mir sehr nahe stand. Ein Bastard zu sein ist im Allgemeinen sicherer f\u00fcr alle Beteiligten. Also, warum habe ich mich f\u00fcr sie da drau\u00dfen hingelegt? Liegt es daran, dass ich respektierte, wie sie zwanzig bewaffnete M\u00e4nner mit nur dem Klang ihrer Stimme in der Waffenkammer besiegt hatte? Oder war es, weil sie mir genug vertraut hatte, um mich in das System im Serverraum einzutragen, weil sie wusste, dass ich diesen Zugang f\u00fcr meine eigenen Zwecke nutzen w\u00fcrde?\n\n\"Ich bin - oh um Himmels willen, lass mich sprechen\", bellte ich, als ich sah, wie der Gewehrkolben wieder aufstieg. Asari sah mich an und nickte dann der Wache zu. Das Gewehr wurde abgesenkt. \"Sie war diejenige, die dein Leben gerettet hat. Ohne ihre Zugangscodes w\u00e4ren wir alle tot. Und trotz allem hat sie nie einen Mann zur\u00fcckgelassen. Niemand. Keine Mehrfachm\u00f6rder, keine verurteilten Vergewaltiger, nicht einmal ein ehemaliger Quartiermeister mit klebrigen Fingern. Also gibt es keinen Mann unter uns -\" Ich sah mich bei den anderen Gefangenen um und fand eine \u00fcberraschende Anzahl von ihnen, die zur\u00fccknickte, \"- wer sie jetzt zur\u00fccklassen wird. Wenn du jemals willst, dass deine Leute wissen, in welchem traurigen Schrott du dich eingesperrt hast, dann lass uns gehen.\"\n\nWas leidenschaftliche Reden betrifft, so war es eine meiner besten. Asari, dessen Aufgabe es war, als F\u00fchrer der Tevarin-Minderheit in OSP-4 leidenschaftliche Reden zu halten, war nicht beeindruckt. \"Oder wir k\u00f6nnten euch einfach alle t\u00f6ten und wir sind nicht schlechter dran als vorher.\"\n\n\"Ich werde bleiben\", sagte Wyrick. \"Ich kann weder einen K\u00e4mpfer noch einen Transporter fliegen und ich war noch nie ein guter Mechaniker. Und ich werde niemanden erschie\u00dfen.\" Sie war aufgestanden und, obwohl sie mit mindestens einem halben Kopf die k\u00fcrzeste Person im Raum war, schien sie irgendwie gr\u00f6\u00dfer zu werden. \"Du brauchst mich nicht, um von dieser Station runterzukommen.\"\n\nIch wollte gerade protestieren, nicht, dass wir ihre Zugangsdaten brauchen, um vom Bahnhof zu kommen oder so. Etwas Pers\u00f6nlicheres. Zum Gl\u00fcck hat sie mich unterbrochen, bevor ich mich blamierte. \"Sie haben alles, was Sie brauchen, um diese Jungs dorthin zu bringen, wo sie hin m\u00fcssen, Lieutenant Avery Nylund. Denk einfach daran, einen Suchtrupp f\u00fcr mich zu schicken, wenn das alles vorbei ist, okay?\"\n\nUnd genau so haben wir sie dort gelassen. Ich wartete immer wieder darauf, dass Morgan, unser hochkompetenter S\u00f6ldner, einen Plan zur Rettung ihrer Tochter vorschlug. Sobald wir aus der N\u00e4he waren, schlug er vor, dass wir die Luftkan\u00e4le st\u00fcrmen oder die Wachen mit Knock-out-Gas ausschalten. Aber der Plan wurde nie verwirklicht. Asaris M\u00e4nner marschierten uns zum n\u00e4chsten funktionierenden Aufzug und gaben uns Maschinengewehre anstelle der Kanonen, die wir uns aus der Waffenkammer angeeignet hatten, und schickten uns auf den Weg.\n\nIch war noch taub, als wir auf dem Cargo Deck 1C ankamen, wo sich die eingemotteten J\u00e4ger und der Reservetransport befanden, der uns vom Bahnhof und \u00fcber Kilkenny's Blockade hinausbringen w\u00fcrde. Nat\u00fcrlich war sie verschlossen, und nat\u00fcrlich habe ich Morgan darauf hingewiesen. \"Deshalb brauchen wir Wyrick. Sie hat alle Sicherheitscodes.\"\n\nMorgan trat von der T\u00fcrkonsole zur\u00fcck und gab der T\u00fcr einen Schlag der Missbilligung. \"Nein. Wyrick ist zu schlau daf\u00fcr. Sie h\u00e4tte gewusst, dass wir ohne die Codes nicht weit kommen w\u00fcrden.\" Er kratzte sich am Kopf und sah mich dann an. \"Sie hat dich Lieutenant genannt, nicht wahr?\"\n\nDas hat sie in der Tat. Sie nannte mich zum ersten Mal \"Lieutenant Avery Nylund\". Noch bevor ich verurteilt worden war und wir uns im Vorbeigehen getroffen hatten, hatte sie mich nur in meinem Rang genannt. Und dann hat es mich getroffen. Ich hatte die Aufzeichnungen meiner Verurteilung im Serverraum weggewischt, und der Computer muss dann automatisch meinen Rang wiederhergestellt haben.\n\nEs war mit einiger Genugtuung, als ich mich der T\u00fcrkonsole n\u00e4herte. \"Sprachausgabe: Lieutenant Avery Nylund. Passcode: Wie w\u00e4r's mit einer braunen Kuh.\"\n\nEiner der hartgesottenen Verbrecher im Hintergrund unserer Gruppe brach lachend aus und ich f\u00fchlte, wie meine Wangen rot wurden. \"Was? Ich mag es, wie es sich reimt.\"\n\nwird fortgesetzt.....","zh_CN":"I once knew a man who\u2019d worked at OSP-4 since the day they set her in space and gave her a spin. He told me that the only thing that set apart Forensic Psychiatry from the Political Activities Wing was that the crazies in the PAW had a cause.\n\nWe had never meant to go there, but when our elevator stopped and all the lights turned red, Wes Morgan pried open the doors and we found that the attack by the Nova Dogs had blown open the shaft. We\u2019d been saved from the vacuum of space by a piece of steel that had peeled off one wall and lodged underneath the car.\n\nWe were lodged in the shaft, but we could all detect the gentle hiss of escaping air and we stepped off carefully. No man wanted to be the last to disembark and risk a short trip into the black. I let them go, and eventually only Cayla Wyrick and I remained. It was fitting in a way. She was my therapist, the woman into whose custody I had been given after being stripped of my rank. She looked at me and I looked at her, and neither of us wanted to go before the other. In the end, she had more steel in her than I did, and she followed me out of the shaft.\n\nRight into the barrel of a gun.\n\nOur assailants, like most of our group, wore prison orange, except that they wore red suns painted on bands of white cloth on their arms. They\u2019d been waiting by the door of the escalator, capturing and disarming us one-by-one as we came through.\n\nThey took us through the prison block and up a flight of stairs. There, striding around a control center consisting of hacked notepads and vidscreens that had once been mounted in guard posts, was a Tevarin. He was tall and well-muscled, with grayish skin, and he owed his freedom to us.\n\n\u201cWe meet again, Yusaf Asari,\u201d said Morgan cockily. By this time we\u2019d all been shackled with plastic handcuffs, and his wrists were bound before him. Several more Tevarin prisoners from the PAW stood nearby, holding onto our guns for us.\n\n\u201cWe do indeed,\u201d responded Asari. \u201cWhat are you doing here, Morgan?\u201d\n\n\u201cSightseeing. You know, snap a few pictures, have a drink with the locals. That kind of thing.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe\u2019re here by accident,\u201d Wyrick quickly interjected. The small blonde woman in nylons and a suit looked out of place in the sea of orange and blue uniforms that made up our group, but she\u2019d become as much a part of it as any of us. \u201cOur elevator \u2014\u201d\n\n\u201c\u2014 I don\u2019t care what brought you here. I want to know where you\u2019re going.\u201d Asari\u2019s face was stone and his accent made him stress his syllables in all the wrong places. \u201cWe are here and the pirates are out there and no one travels between us. Except you. Why? What are you seeking?\u201d\n\nThe Nova Dogs, a group of pirates captained by one Martin Kilkenny, were cannibals who sought one particular prisoner named Martin Browning who no one had ever heard of and who were willing to blow up the station to find him. They\u2019d struck without warning, targeting command centers and barracks with pinpoint precision. It was because of them that Cayla Wyrick, who held the civilian rank of Lieutenant, had been promoted by OSP-4\u2019s computer to Warden. She was the most valuable thing on the station right now, and I had no idea if Asari knew it or not.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019re getting off the station,\u201d said Morgan simply. My chest tightened. What the hell was Morgan doing? The last thing we needed to do was to tell these guys the truth.\n\nThe Tevarin who surrounded us grunted in laughter. All except Asari. \u201cI know you too well to believe that\u2019s a joke. How are you going to accomplish that?\u201d\n\nMorgan nodded at Herschel Konicek, who still wore the hospital gown he\u2019d had on when we\u2019d rescued him from Forensic Psychiatry. \u201cHerby\u2019s my mechanic. He\u2019s going to fix a couple of mothballed fighters Nylund knows about, and we\u2019re going to use them to run the blockade.\u201d\n\nI had to bite my tongue to keep from asking Morgan just what in the hell he was trying to prove.\n\nAsari absorbed this information impassively. \u201cWhat makes you think we won\u2019t use those fighters ourselves?\u201d\n\nMorgan shrugged, an awkward motion considering his hands were bound in front of him. \u201cHerby won\u2019t work for you. That right, Herby?\u201d\n\nKonicek, still coming down from an involuntary high from the drugs the other inmates had fed him, shrugged and wiped at an ear with his bound hands.\n\n\u201cWe have our own mechanics.\u201d\n\n\u201cNot like Herby.\u201d\n\nAsari looked at Konicek, who now crouched on his haunches, rocking back and forth. \u201cEvidently.\u201d\n\nOne of the prisoners in the back started to say something, but he was violently cut off by a Tevarin who shoved the butt of his rifle into his guts. I was glad I hadn\u2019t spoken up.\n\n\u201cWe saved your life,\u201d said Morgan quietly. \u201cApparently, the Tevarin have a short memory.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Tevarin have a long memory.\u201d Asari\u2019s brow creased. \u201cMy people remember the Battle of Idris IV and we remember the day when Corath\u2019Thai \u2014\u201d\n\n\u201cEnough with the performance, Yusaf. Two years of exchanging chess moves on bits of paper tied to strings and all of a sudden I\u2019m suppressing your people?\u201d Morgan took two steps towards Asari and every rifle in the room raised at once. He stopped and sighed. \u201cNo one\u2019s got more sympathy for your cause than I do. When we get off this hunk of junk, the first thing I\u2019ll do is send your people a note with the station\u2019s coordinates. You know that.\u201d\n\nAsari considered this as he looked at his men, meeting each of their gazes. \u201cChess is chess. But I don\u2019t trust you Morgan. Leave the girl here.\u201d\n\n\u201cSure, done. Now let\u2019s get these cuffs off,\u201d said Morgan.\n\nI was offended by just how fast he\u2019d agreed to Asari\u2019s terms. He\u2019d sold out Wyrick without a second thought. I couldn\u2019t contain myself. \u201cWe\u2019re not leaving Cayla with you \u2014\u201d\n\nA rifle butt to the solar plexus silenced me a lot quicker than I\u2019d like to admit. I spasmed and found myself on the floor having to struggle not to vomit repeatedly.\n\nMorgan\u2019s voice sounded fuzzy over the pounding of blood in my ears. \u201cNice going, kid. The idea was to convince them she wasn\u2019t valuable as a hostage.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat,\u201d said Asari as I struggled to my feet, \u201cis exactly why I don\u2019t trust you. The girl stays. And you uphold your end of the deal.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, I \u2014\u201d\n\nAnother blow from the same rifle sent me back to my knees. I didn\u2019t know why I got back up again. Sure I\u2019d come to respect Wyrick during our escape attempt, but it wasn\u2019t like me to risk my own neck for someone else. It wasn\u2019t that I was selfish. It\u2019s just that the last time I took a risk, someone very close to me died. Being a bastard is generally safer for everyone involved. So why was I putting myself out there for her? Was it because I respected how she\u2019d bested twenty armed men with only the sound of her voice at the armory? Or was it because she\u2019d trusted me enough to sign me into the system at the server room, knowing that I was going to use that access for my own purposes?\n\n\u201cI\u2019m \u2014 oh for chrissakes let me speak,\u201d I barked as I saw the rifle butt rise again. Asari looked at me and then nodded at the guard. The rifle lowered. \u201cShe was the one who saved your life. Without her access codes we\u2019d all be dead. And, despite everything, she has never left a man behind. No one. Not multiple-murderers, not convicted rapists, not even a former quartermaster with sticky fingers. So there isn\u2019t a man among us \u2014\u201d I looked around at the other prisoners and found a surprising number of them nodding back, \u201c\u2014 who\u2019ll leave her behind now. If you ever want your people to know which sorry ass scrap of metal you got yourself imprisoned in, you\u2019ll let us go.\u201d\n\nAs far as impassioned speeches go, it was one of my best. Asari, whose job it was as leader of the Tevarin minority in OSP-4 to give impassioned speeches, was not impressed. \u201cOr we could just kill you all and we\u2019re no worse off than we were before.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll stay,\u201d said Wyrick. \u201cI can\u2019t fly a fighter or a transport and I\u2019ve never been much of a mechanic. And I won\u2019t shoot anyone.\u201d She\u2019d gotten to her feet and, though she was the shortest person in the room by at least a half a head, somehow, she seemed to loom larger. \u201cYou don\u2019t need me to get off this station.\u201d\n\nI was about to protest, not that we needed her access codes to get off the station or anything. Something more personal. Luckily she cut me off before I embarrassed myself. \u201cYou have everything you need to get these boys where they need to go, Lieutenant Avery Nylund. Just remember to send a search party for me when this is all over, okay?\u201d\n\nAnd just like that we left her there. I kept waiting for Morgan, our ultra-competent mercenary, to propose a plan to rescue her. As soon as we got out of earshot he\u2019d suggest we storm the air ducts, or take out the guards with knock-out gas. But the plan never materialized. Asari\u2019s men marched us to the nearest working elevator and gave us machine guns instead of the guns we\u2019d appropriated from the armory and sent us on our way.\n\nI was still numb when we arrived at Cargo Deck 1C, which housed the mothballed fighters and reserve transport that would get us off the station and past Kilkenny\u2019s blockade. Of course, it was locked, and of course I pointed this out to Morgan. \u201cThis is why we need Wyrick. She\u2019s got all the security codes.\u201d\n\nMorgan stepped away from the door console and gave the door a thump of disapproval. \u201cNo. Wyrick\u2019s too smart for that. She would have known we wouldn\u2019t get far without the codes.\u201d He scratched his head and then looked at me. \u201cShe called you lieutenant, didn\u2019t she?\u201d\n\nShe had indeed. She\u2019d called me \u2018Lieutenant Avery Nylund\u2019 for the first time ever. Even before I\u2019d been convicted and we\u2019d met each other in passing, she\u2019d merely called me by my rank. And then it hit me. I\u2019d wiped away the records of my conviction in the server room, and the computer must have then automatically restored my rank.\n\nIt was with some satisfaction that I approached the door console. \u201cVoice Print: Lieutenant Avery Nylund. Passcode: How now brown cow.\u201d\n\nOne of the hardened criminals in the back of our group burst out laughing and I felt my cheeks go red. \u201cWhat? I like the way it rhymes.\u201d\n\nto be continued \u2026"},"links_count":0,"comment_count":40,"created_at":"2014-08-15T00:00:00+00:00","created_at_human":"11 years ago"},"meta":{"processed_at":"2026-05-14 03:54:12","valid_relations":["images","links"],"prev_id":14077,"next_id":14079}}