Deshima (Part One)

Deshima. An independently run station on the fringes of populated space.

Located deep within a nebula, it is a difficult place to reach.

But that suited my purposes for I came here to meet someone.

Off the beaten track.

-----

February 15 - Deshima

The door to the theatre lobby opened with a hiss.

"Howdy."

I nodded, "Hello Cody."

"Been a while...." he said.

"Glad you could make it," I replied pleasantly.


Cody was wearing blue jeans, a grey armoured vest, side arm strapped to his leg. Sunglasses protected his eyes.

I was out of uniform. It was a deliberate decision, not so much to put him at ease, but as a precaution against anyone seeing Cody with an Alliance officer. Strangers would simply see a couple going to the movies.

"So where you want to.. talk?" he asked.

"In the theatre.."


"Okay," he replied, "After you..."

I handed my ticket to the auto attendant. Cody followed behind me and did the same.

As the inner door to the theatre proper closed behind us, I explained my choice of venue. "The movie will cover our voices.... for privacy sake."

Cody nodded and sat back on the grey sofa.

The theatre was of modest size. Still it could accommodate a small group of perhaps six to eight viewers. We had the room to ourselves.

The film flickered to life as we took our seats.

"I wanted to see if you have heard anything concerning the children," I began, "and to let you know what I have heard about Kitten."

"Okay...."

"Let me go first," I insisted, "since I was the one to ask you here."

Cody nodded for me to continue.

"I have a lead," I said, "about a genetics lab in the Wastelands..."

"Genetics?" he asked.

"...from what I know of you and your sister, it may yield some results."

Cody clenched his jaw.

"It was connected to a man named Mindo.... do you recognize that name?"

"Yeah," he replied, "I gone toe to toe with him."

"Okay, good," I said, "then I will pursue that angle. And what about you? Have you heard anything that might interest me?"

"Not on the twins, but suspect Lily's played with 'em. She's seen 'em..... I don't mean the eggs she's been carin' for either."

Eggs? I nodded. "How many eggs does she have?"

"She has two eggs from the old Easter hunt. Two."

"Ah, Easter eggs," I chuckled, "I thought you meant something else."

"The bio genetic stuff? No."

"What about drones?" I asked

He regarded me for a moment. "Drones? Depends on the kind you mean..."

I explained, "I understand that you had a run in recently.... with a drone belonging to Ardra Aurotharius."

Cody paused for a few seconds. "Yeah," he replied, "Can't say it was a run in....More like seein' what all was wrong. It was all beat up."

"Broken you say?"

"More like damaged," he replied, "It was in pretty bad shape."

"Tell me what happened."

Cody leaned back and looked at the movie screen. "Hmm, it said somethin' 'bout it was comin' to get the program from the host."

"The host!" I said suddenly. That was a surprise.

Cody nodded, "Thin' is it was already gone."

"Do you think it meant Lily?" I asked.

"I got a feelin' it did," he answered, "but it said the program got activated again. Not sure what all that meant. I think this was b'fore the incident with Lily."

Curious. I frowned turning the information over and over.

Meanwhile, the actors in the movie carried on with their own drama in a graveyard of sorts.

"Ardra hurt Lily," I said almost absently, "and she may have the twins."

Cody looked at me. "I don't doubt it," he agreed, "Ardra caused a lot of hurt."

"Tell me more about this drone," I pressed, "Even the most insignificant detail..."

"What," he cocked his head, "you want a runnin' commentary?"

"Whatever information you can provide may be helpful," I said, "These drones are launched from somewhere. Everything leaves a trace."

He frowned, "Fine.....It showed up by the shuttles but on the lower level. Bram was usin' his new scope and said it was there. I went to check it out. Said it was damaged and waitin' for extraction."

"It was there to get the program from the host," I repeated, "...so it was a retrieval drone."

Cody shrugged, "Yeah."

"Did it find anything close to what it was looking for?"

"No. It said somethin' 'bout Project Aurotharius bin' reactivated."

"What did it look like?"

"Was a silver skin female lookin' chassis. Had shorts and a tank on."

"Silver?" I mused. A new colour. "Do you have an image?" I asked, "A security cam capture perhaps... you were a deputy on Hale's."

"Yeah.. or grey. Was too bright out that day. Said it was a drone program extracted by Blue Sun."

"By Blue Sun?" File that for later, I thought.

Cody frowned then carefully pulls out a picture from his kit.

I reached over and accepted the photograph, "Thank you Cody." Again it was dressed in Audrey's style of clothes. Suspended at an odd angle. It looked like a ghost.

He nodded by way of reply.

"What happened to the drone?" I asked.

"It was wanderin' 'round then went into the wastes. It had a temp shutdown.. Was over heatin'."

"Go on."

"Then it said it'd wait where it was for extraction.... then did a data extraction."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"It did a verbal data dump... like went on over the convo we had."

"So where is it now?"

"I don't rightly know," he replied, "When I went back later it was gone. Was gonna bring Lily over to check on it, but nada. Nothin' there."

I ran the tip of my finger along the edge of the photograph. "Okay... this has been helpful. Thank you."

Another puzzle piece.

Cody nodded.

On the screen, a policeman asked his partner: "....How are we going to kill somebody that's already dead?..."

"I will let you know what I find out in the Wastelands," I added.

"You got folks checkin' there now?" he asked, "You know..... Ain't seen Lily for near a week now.... She's gone missin'."

"Do you think she might be there?"

"No...," he replied, "I think she might be somewhere no one's been in a long while....."

"What do you think happened to her? She has run off before."

Cody paused to think. "She got taken....... I have a place, but no one can access it without maybe gettin' on a dinner menu...."

"Go on," I prompted.

Cody rubbed his chin, "'Liance most like has the outer rim of the moon restricted..... "

"I see. What would you like me to do?" I asked directly.

"You thinkin' of goin' to Miranda then?" he asked.

"You think she went to Miranda?"

"Maybe got taken there," he replied.

I caught my breath. "By whom?" I asked.

Cody smiled faintly, "Don't know.... But your folks might....."

My mind was racing. What if Lynx was with her?

A Colonel in the movie remarked, "And it's my guess that she'll look like him." He indicated a skeleton lying on the ground, "With the ship and the ray gun gone, they have no control..."

"I'll see what I can find out," I said carefully, "Traffic logs maybe...Do you have anything else to go on?"

"Might help," he said, "I was asked by the Mayor.. her Ma.. to look for Lily. A big ship come in and maybe swallowed the smaller Reaver ship what were attackin' hers."

"Very well. I will see what I can find out.... What about this big ship? Any markings? Description?"

"Didn't see it on the feeds," he replied, "Heard it though."

"Where was she last seen?" I asked.

"On her ship stuck in the asteroid field," he went on to explain, "We went up to salvage what we thought was a small derelict..... was hers...."

"Okay."

"...down to the ear what was cut from her," he added, clenching his jaw tightly.

"An ear!" I exclaimed.

I asked the question. I feared the answer.

"Was she alone?"

"Don't know.. We think a kid was with her.... Lynx....."

My heart was pounding in my ears.

A man in the movie was making his closing remarks, "...Can you prove that it didn't happen?..."

I heard another voice. It was my voice. "Okay," said the voice.

"...We ain't seen the kid since."

I stood up.

"Send me everything you have," I directed, "I'll be in touch."

"Okay..." he replied.

"Thank you Cody," I managed to say. I turned and walked purposefully to the exit.

-----

The door from the theatre was still closing by the time I reached the next junction.

I walked. Through Deshima Station. Down corridors. Across platforms.

Agonizing over the fate of young Lynx.

I kept walking, fighting the swirl of emotions, the flurry of thoughts.

Until at last I could walk no more. I leaned back against the bulkhead and wept.