Keeper Hunter

I wasn’t sure what to think as I gazed around the so-called Tavern. It was a dive in every sense of the word. Frankly I was surprised that the captain hadn’t closed it down on health grounds. Everything was made of fake wood some of it so fake it was plastic. It had a long bar with stools along it and tables and chairs. There was no bartender but there was a server leaning against a wall looking as if he wanted to be elsewhere.

I noted that the table and chairs were bolted to the floor. I doubted it was because they were on a ship more than likely to stop the patrons from rioting. The floor was sticky. I vowed that if I dropped anything on that floor I wasn’t picking it up.

“Do they ever clean up in here?” I asked worriedly.

There were plenty of free tables and very few customers. We found a table and sat down. I grimaced as I did so regretting that I had agreed to this. A server came over as we settled. He looked bored and had a grubby apron over his Imperial jumpsuit.

“What will it be?” he asked sounding unhappy that we were there. He had that expression on his face.

“Beer!” Claire declared.

“Three beers,” Silivia added.

Usually there was a selection but the server was gone before we had that option.

Claire glanced around a frown on her face. “Sorry,” she apologised. “I was lied to I really thought this place was going to be cool?”

I wondered who had lied to her but that was something she’d tell me when she was ready.

“Hopefully a cold beer will help?”

The beers when the server brought them weren’t cold and tasted bland. To top it all he plonked three bottles on the table and asked for payment straight away. I paid with my comms I wasn’t sure if it would work. It did which was a bit of relief.

I took a sip of my beer and grimaced. It wasn’t what I wanted to drink on a regular basis. From the expressions on the others faces they were of the same opinion.

“Hey I’ve an idea!” Silivia suddenly announced.

“What’s that?” I asked her anything was better than this.

She pulled a metallic flask out of her pocket. “We drink this instead!”

“Anything is better than lukewarm piss water,” Claire commented.

Silivia gestured to the server. “Three glasses please!”

“You can have three plastic cups we don’t have glass in here,” the server grouched.

Which was probably a wise decision I’d seen what broken glass could do to someone’s face.

“Such a nice boy,” Claire muttered when his back was turned.

The server returned with three plastic cups that had seen better days.

“Enjoy,” he said without any enthusiasm.

“Right drink up,” Claire said. “I’m going to find that crewman and kick his ass. Nice place to go to,” she snorted.

I swallowed down the beer and stared at the empty bottle that had been so unfulfilling.

“This should be better,” Silivia said and poured a black liquid into a cup.

Instinctively I put my hand over my cup. “Not for me,” I said. “And I advise you not to drink it either. It’s lethal even a sip will put you in hospital.” I looked at the metal flask she was holding. “Frankly I surprised it didn’t eat through the metal. I use it to clean the grit off shuttle components. I’d done that when I was fleeing with Miranda. I sent a silent prayer to whatever was watching over her. I’m not religious but the Valkyrie often invoked the Mother of All. My silent prayer was to her.

“You’re joking right?” Silivia said with a look of consternation.

“I’m not, the few times I’ve drunk it I ended up in hospital.” The last time wasn’t my fault a well-meaning Elder had added some to a cup of coffee that she gave me. She hadn’t expected my reaction to the stuff. “I’d rather drink undiluted moonshine rather than Hjemme.” I shuddered at the thought of that time. It had made me hyper-aggressive in the moment before I fell face first onto the floor. “Don’t get me started on Valkyrie hospitals.”

“What about Valkyrie hospitals are they that bad?” Claire said studying my face in an effort to see if I was lying.

“The hospitals are the best I ever seen. It’s the doctors and their methods,” I replied.

I noted that I had both Claire and Silivia’s attention.

“What they are not very good?” Silivia said.

I let that pass they really didn’t understand the Valkyrie psyche. I lived with them and still didn’t. “Oh the doctors are good it’s their methods for checking whether you are fit enough to be discharged.”

“I feel a story here?” Claire said.

I rubbed my chin in remembrance of my first encounter with a Valkyrie doctor. I hadn’t been ready for her punch. I learned that lesson the hard way.

Silivia leaned forward an intense expression on her face. “Yes, yes tell us.”

“They punch you, if you don’t duck you aren’t ready to leave.” I touched my jaw again. That punch had knocked me out I awoke to find myself on a space ship. “You learn to duck or its back in a Cell Stitcher for you.”

“Cell Stitcher?” Claire asked.

“Also known as a Cell Regenerator. It repairs your body cell by cell.” I didn’t tell them I had a version of a Cell Stitcher in my blood courtesy of the Keepers. Nanobots in my blood tailored to me. The Keepers had hidden mine to hide their involvement with me.

“I’ve heard about those?” Silivia said.

Claire made a noise. “More Confederacy baloney.”

I held up my hand the one blown in half by a limpet mine attached to Jervic’s armour. “See this notice any difference?”

“Should we?” Claire asked.

“I had half my hand blown off trying to get a limpet mine attached to my friend’s chest he was in combat armour.” I went cold at the thought another issue I hadn’t been able to resolve. Too much had gone in the between. I was determined to make the time. Vanessa had to be brought to justice but I had no idea where to start.

“Shit,” Claire said. “Did he survive that’s some nasty shit.”

“Yes, they put him in a Cell Stitcher. I think the only thing that kept him from dying was his combat armour. It kept him alive long enough for medtechs to get to him.” I owed Jervic for that I couldn’t rid myself of the guilt I felt. “Cell Stitchers can’t revive the dead.” I wasn’t so sure about the Keepers they had rebuilt themselves from digital images into flesh and blood. I know they had harvested my ovaries to do that but I didn’t hold that against them. “A friend of mine Gudbjorga had her leg blown off in the war but a Cell Stitcher re-grew it.” I made a face. “To tell the truth I’ve spent more time in one than I care to count.” I also learned it could be used as containment for prisoners. A fact I’d suffered first hand when I had been kidnapped another of those unresolved incidents. I sure was piling them up. “Someone with serious injuries can be back working within a handful of weeks.”

Claire gave a low whistle. Oh man why don’t we have anything like that here?”

“Because we are Empire,” Silivia stated.

“That’s true,” I replied.

“How do you stand being inside one of those things?” Claire directed her question to me.

“I’ve got used to it. With the Valkyrie you do not get a choice.” Which was the full truth. The Valkyrie didn’t give you that choice. With their training methods it was a given fact you needed it. I’d be still stuck on Alfheimir recovering otherwise. In the Empire I’d be a cripple with half a hand. The Empire was as much against prosthetics as they were against anything that reminded them of the AI war.

Silivia slapped her hand on the table. “Enough of this maudlin talk. We came here for fun.” She waved over the surly server. “Three beers cold ones this time.”

The server brought over three beers cool but not cold and dumped on the table demanding payment. “You gets what you get,” he said.

“Such a lovely boy,” Claire commented as he left. She suddenly laughed while I sipped my beer I noticed that neither women were touching the Hjemme.

“I best be getting back,” I told them finishing the last of my unremarkable beer. “Not that I’ve much to go back to.”

Claire looked at me with a glance to Silivia. “Hey how about you come with us we’ve got weapons training at 0600 ship time.”

I liked the thought of that I needed to get some weapons training in unless it was staff training I still sucked at that. “Are you sure. Best run it through your CO?”

“Our CO doesn’t care either way. It’s why we have to put up with a toad like Malcolm,” Claire said bitterly. “At least he won’t be there which is a good thing?”

“Sarge might object?” Silivia told her friend.

I needed the practice I couldn’t do that on the commercial liner that brought me to earth.

“Sure I’ll do it.”

“Good we’ll see you at 0600 in the shuttle bay. That’s bay seven,” Claire said.

I headed back to my quarters.