“What the heck happened to you?” Izzy gasped as RIza and the child arrived at Takii’s food truck.
“I tripped,” She grunted as she took a seat.
“She need doctor,” The girl said.
“Where can we find one?” Izzy asked, but the girl shrugged.
“No need,” The chef placed a first aid kit on the counter.
Izzy rummaged through it, grabbing a bandaid, some disinfectant and a painkiller before tending to Riza’s head. The disinfectant stung as she rubbed the cotton swap against the gash.
“It’s deep, but nothing too serious,”
“You know first aid?”
“I’m a level three,” Izzy said, “There’s a lot that can go wrong in a race or in the lab.”
“A knew a recognised ya voice!” The Chef said in excitement, “A couldn’ see ya face unda dat collar, but ya ‘er, aren’t ya? Hell, da jacket even look like ya race suit,”
“I’d prefer to keep it under wraps,” Izzy said, passing him a worried glance.
The chef flipped his white dreadlocks behind his ears with his one hand, whilst his mechanical arm switched the hand into a knife. “A didn’ see nothin’,” He grinned as he began chopping away. “This ya Captain ya tellin’ me bout?”
“Yeah, although she isn’t usually this… Beaten up,”
“I’m not usually this damp either, but Silic comes with new experiences.”
The chef chuckled, “Ya pick a lotta fights for a scientist,”
“What do you mean?”
“Kythera, The Atlas, now people in Silic,” He said as he looked over at the kid, who hesitantly looked away from him as he did, “A guess it was over da gal,”
“Who is she?” Izzy asked, wrapping the bandaid around Riza’s head.
“I don’t know,” Riza said, giving her an endearing look, “But she saved my life, so I owe her a meal or two.”
“Comin’ right up,” The Chef said.
Izzy sat back in her chair once she was done tending to Riza’s wounds and looked at the little girl and her greyed-out eye, clutching tightly to her wooden toy.
“You got into a fight?” She asked.
“A minor altercation,”
“Traffickers don’ let go of product so easy,” The Chef added.
“Products?” Riza scratched the scar on her cheek.
“Why didn’t you use the drone?” Izzy asked.
“I did, it brought me to you,”
“It has defensive measures, didn’t I explain it on the ship?”
“You may have missed that part.”
“Crap, my bad,”
“Don’t worry about it,” She chuckled, before turning to the Chef. “Did you say, traffickers?”
“Small organisation, not as big as da gang but pretty big roun’ ‘ere,”
“How did you know she was one of their… Products?” The word was nauseating.
“Her eye, they blind n hurt ‘em to make ‘em dependent. Deter dem from runnin’,”
“You’re kidding me,” Izzy said, shocked as she looked back at the child.
“She was crying in the market, no one was helping her, so…”
“Silic ain’ da kind aplace where people go ‘roun helpin’ others,” He said as he pushed the ingredients into a pot at his side, “People be focused on takin’ care a der own to do dat.”
“Tell her what you told me, Takii,” Izzy said.
“About Kythera?”
“A know somethin’,” He said, “But A got some question for ya first.”
“For me?”
“Ya see, A recognise dat tattoo on ya cheek. Saw it on da news a few week ago… Prion-A, ya destroy da minin’ rig, neh.” He passed her a suspicious glance.
“Is there a question in there somewhere?” Riza replied, a little agitated.
“A jus’ wanna know how ya did it. Seem like ya need some serious explosivesto do it,”
“Are you serious?”
“My boss, an’ his boss, would kill to get der hands on dat kind of firepower,”
Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.
“Yeah, well, they’re gonna be disappointed,”
“Why dat?”
“'Cause I didn’t do shit to that rig,” She grunted, “It’s all lies.”
“Pfft, A saw da footage with me own eyes,”
“The rig blew up,” She confirmed, “But I didn’t do it.”
He paused his chopping and looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
“Dey said da resistance did it, an’ Am not gonna lie, ya fit the bill for resistance scientist,”
“I’m not,” She asserted.
“Dey keepin’ da tech secret, neh?”
“I’m telling you, I didn’t sabotage that rig. And I’m not part of the resistance,”
“Den why would dey say it be ya?”
“That’s why we’re here. That’s what I want to find out,”
“Dat why ya wanna get in da Kythera facility?”
“Bingo,”
Takii took a moment to think, finishing up the food order and placing a large portion of brown rice, veggies and chopped ham into a container.
“Order for four,” He said, placing the polystyrene container on the counter and wrapping it in plastic.
“How much?” Izzy asked.
“It on da house,” Takii replied, “Courtesy of da Otewo gang.”
“Really?” Izzy reached out to grab the container, but Riza stopped her, glaring at Takii.
“Why?” She asked.
He smiled, “What if A just wanna do somethin’ nice for a kid in need?”
“I doubt you would,” Riza murmured.
“A got a contact, tough cookie, working on findin’ that facility ya talkin’ about. When she find it, A tell ya what she know. In fact, Am gon’ put ya in contact with her so she can show ya herself.”
“What’s the catch?”
“Ya share all da data ya get.”
“Because you want to know how they did it?”
“Yup,”
“Why?”
“A can’t tell ya dat. Just know ya doing da people a Silic a great service,”
She moved her hand away from the food, and Izzy proceeded to pick up the container.
“We got a deal?” He flipped his mechanical knife into a hand before extending it for a fist bump.
She took a moment to think, uncertain of why she felt hesitant, but knowing that she needed to meet his informant.
“Yeah,” She said, returning the fist bump. “We have a deal,”
“Great,” He flipped it back into a knife and continued cutting away, “She gon’ be back in two day, so find me later.”
_INCOMING TRANSMISSION: PILO
“Go it,” Riza said as she stood from her seat.
“If me was ya, A keep low profile,” He added. “More people recognise ya than ya tink, dey just stay quiet ‘cause dat how we be ‘round ‘ere. Dem trafficker work close wit' da Atlas so dey be keepin’ an eye out for ya,”
“Why would the Atlas work with traffickers?” Izzy asked.
“Money,” Takii chuckled, “Da Atlas Commander in charge of da star system be a little… Wild.”
“But traffickers?” Izzy reiterated, “I know Atlas Commanders are corrupt, but they usually make deals with politicians or executives.”
“Who do ya tink da traffickin’ for?” Takii looked at her as though she’d asked a foolish question.
Izzy twitched, raising the corner of her lip at Takii’s words as they settled in her mind.
“Thanks for the food,” Riza said as she stepped away, placing a hand on the child's shoulder as they all left the food truck.
“Come again,”
“What’s up?” She said as she swiped accept on the comms.
“I got us a place to stay. Cheap. I’m sending the coordinates now.”
“Good job,” She said, “We got dinner sorted out too.”
“Keen to see what they eat around here,”
“It looks good,” Riza recalled Takii’s cooking process. It may have been hasty, but it was rigorous. “See you in a minute,”
The call hung up, and the coordinates appeared on a map in her field of view.
“I don’t understand why people do this,” Izzy said, still pensive and agitated.
“Do what?”
“Waste their wealth on the most heinous shit. It’s sickening, all they fucking do is take more and more while hurting innocent people in the process,”
Riza watched Izzy’s frustration, more aware of the wealth that she’d been around for her whole life. Unlike her experience on Cintri, Izzy only knew abundance. Riza wondered what that felt like. Never having to worry about your next meal or if you’ll be warm enough to wake up the next day during the winter.
“I didn’t know it bothered you so much,”
“I’ve seen it my whole life, but,” She sighed, “I guess I ignored it because I thought there was nothing I could do.”
“Still feel that way?”
Izzy stayed silent for a moment, and they walked for a few moments as the question churned in her mind, “No. I just don’t know what to do about it.”
“Same.”
“You helped her,” Izzy looked at the girl, “You did something,”
“Yeah, I wasn’t thinking about the politics of it all. I didn’t even know there was a whole organisation behind taking kids like her… I just saw her crying and figured I should help,”
“Helping one person still makes a difference,”
“I don’t know if it does. There’s still a whole underground operation and possibly hundreds or even thousands of children being abused right now.” Riza felt a weight on her chest, and she mustered up the courage to tell Izzy how she really felt. “If I’m honest… I envy that fire in you that wants to do something about it. I don’t have that. I don’t know if I really care about it all. I just want to clear our names… Violet and Duncan’s names from the lies that these assholes buried them in.”
Izzy’s tension eased, and she looked caught off guard. That face Riza had seen countless times before. The reaction to her emotions that made no sense to others as they tried not to show their confusion. Their distaste. She’d seen it all too much on Cintri when she spoke of her disinterest in the rebellion. In the Atlas. Two forces that, to her, were the root of their people’s problems. But they could never see it that way, and Riza’s opinion was lonely. Desolate among a sea of righteousness. But this time, it was different. Izzy took a moment and didn’t seem to hold onto it the way most did. The words simmered with her. Processed. And her eyes held understanding. Something she’d only seen from her Pilo, Duncan and Violet.
“A lot of people talk about making the galaxy safer for those who need it. I’ve seen some of the most influential people talk about how they’ll ‘do their part’. Conferences of hundreds of elites gathering before the press to give hope to those who need it with their speeches written by poets and psychologists to trigger the perfect chemical reaction in the mind of a listener... But they never follow through... You say you don’t care, but you take action. They really don’t care. They wouldn’t bat an eye at a crying child. Or even be honest enough with themselves selves to know they don’t give a damn. Their way of life is so far removed from anything real that they think speaking at a podium, broadcasting their egos to millions of starving families, saves lives… I’m… I’m worried I might be like them,”
Riza placed a hand on Izzy’s shoulder and looked at the little girl walking between them as she fiddled with the wooden toy in her hands, “Then, while we’re here, let’s do what we can.”
follow for more!
