"Hello sister." Rinku said dully.
The crystal haired woman smiled coldly. "Brother."
"I've just heard something interesting that may be of interest to you." She didn't respond but to drop her faux smile. "It seems some pirates met unexpected trouble at a space station belonging to this planet."
Her eyes narrowed slightly. "I've heard the same."
He smirked. "They wouldn't happen to belong to your little band of corsairs, would they?"
"They might. But I don't recall authorizing any attack on a station from... well... anywhere." She replied smoothly.
"Ah." Rinku said sagely, his smirk growing. "Then they were a rogue faction from your number. How interesting."
"You're still too sharp for your own good, brother."
"They're currently pursuing a Stygian vessel containing three humans and..." He leaned close to the screen, lowering his voice. "Our baby sister."
Her expression finally changed to one of surprise before smoothing back out. "Aeltia? I thought you killed her."
He leaned back with a contented sigh. "She goes by Lin on this planet. It's doubtful she knows her true name. Apparently she survived in that battered skiff I put her on and managed to make it here. Only just, from what I can tell. Life support on the thing was practically nonexistent, even with the improvements she made."
"And I'm assuming you want me to reassert my dominance over these wayward warriors and return the aberration to you for some unknown, yet utterly cruel purpose?"
He nodded. "As well as one of the humans, I suppose. One of my subordinates requires satisfaction of a debt. You'll know which human when you see him. He'll be the one clinging to Lin like glue. Answers to the name Fuse."
"Strange for you to do something for somebody else."
"He's been loyal, Rainura. Even in the face of my unreasonable demands and impossible orders. Though, I harbor no illusions that were he able, him and his second would leave my command as the others of his make have."
"As always, brother, I'll give you no guarantees. I may choose to keep them for myself or I may choose to simply kill them and be done with this familial drama. But I will look into the matter."
The screen went dark and Rinku smiled at it cruelly before rising from his seat and looking over at his bed where three human women lay writhing upon it. They wouldn't see the sunrise again, so he decided that they at least deserved to know the absolute limits of the pleasure he could give them as he let his robe drop to the floor.
~
"You know how you regret a decision the second you make it, but you're in too deep and just exist in constant regret of your decision?" Porter asked.
Lulu gave him a withering look. "My life with you."
"That hurts." He pouted.
"Talk, talk, talk, talk, talk. That's all you ever do, human." The demon looking alien snarled. "Just talk. Do you ever shut up?"
"No." Lulu answered, earning her a slap that left her lip bloody.
Porter growled and pulled against the magnetic binder holding him pinned to the wall of their cell.
"Hit her again and see what happens." He threatened.
The demon raised his hand again, but a klaxon blared in the ship and he glared at them. "You'll have somebody to talk to soon." He said with a cruel grin and walked from the cell.
"What was going to happen?" Lulu asked.
"Huh?"
"You told him to hit me again and see what happens. What was going to happen?"
"Oh... Not sure. Thought you might have something up your sleeve."
She sighed and hung against the binder. "You really are all talk."
"Got us off planet and away from Rinku and Caspar, didn't I?"
She gave him another withering look. "Captured by pirates."
"I'll take pirates over those two." He shrugged. "And Avery."
Lulu said nothing, but she agreed with him. They hadn't even tried to kill them or threatened to do so, which was an improvement over their situation on Earth. In fact, all things considered, they were treated fairly by the assortment of alien and human life aboard the ship. Allowed to use the facilities when they needed, fed fairly regularly, and were allowed to sleep without being bound to the wall.
The circumstances weren't ideal, but they were manageable if you simply did what you were told. Other than Porter's mouth getting them in trouble from time to time, being a prisoner was easy. A week ago, however, they had lost most of their number trying to attack a space station after losing their sister ship in a short battle.
Porter's grin never once left his face, which is why their current treatment was rougher than usual. He'd pieced together what was going on from a few well worded questions and open ears. No names were said, but he told Lulu that they were on the right track to regroup with their only possible ally.
"It's started." He said quietly and she nodded.
The muscles in her arms strained and veins rose to the surface of her pale skin, but the binders were slowly coming away from the wall. She groaned from the effort, her face red, but Porter's smile showed absolute confidence in his lover and they soon broke free from their magnetic pull and overloaded.
Panting, she pulled them off her wrists and set them down quietly before rising and grabbing the cuffs attached to Porter's wrists. Bracing her feet against the wall, she was able to use her strength more efficiently and began pulling.
"Were I a lesser man, I'd make a crude comment about having your crotch in my face." He said lightly.
"Shut... Up..." She grunted, then gasped as the binders came free suddenly and she dropped into his lap.
"I like your face better, anyway." He said dourly.
She leaned forward and kissed him before pulling him to his feet. The sounds of battle had died down considerably, but nobody had come down to the detention level yet. They followed a familiar path through the ship until they started coming upon the bodies of the pirates. All was quiet at this point, but Porter could still sense movement within the ship.
Lulu reached for one of the pirates' weapons, but he stopped her. "If we run into Fuse or... anyone, we need to be non-threatening. CQC only, okay? And only the pirates."
"Copy." She whispered.
"What're you two whispering about?" A woman's voice asked cheerfully.
Lulu jumped while Porter cried out in surprise.
"So much for professionalism." She muttered, assessing the pair as they gathered themselves. "Prisoners?"
She pointed at Lulu's wrists, which were still raw from the binders.
"Something like that." Porter said, sighing to regain his composure. "You're Yolanda Cruz?"
She raised her weapon instantly, her expression changing from amused to threatening. Porter raised his hands in surrender and began talking.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! We're not enemies! I promise! We aren't armed on purpose, either! Look, there's an explanation for this and I swear on my life that it'll make sense, just please don't shoot us!"
Yolanda raised an eyebrow. "You talk a lot. And really fast."
"I do, I do. And usually it gets me and Lu in trouble, but I'm hoping it'll get me out of trouble this time." He said even faster.
"If I was gonna shoot, you wouldn't have gotten to open your mouth. Now, you said there's an explanation, so explain."
Porter breathed in relief and relaxed slightly, but kept his hands raised. "We're from Earth-" The gun steadied once more. "Wait, wait! Let me keep going! We came to find Fuse."
"Not helping." Lulu said quietly.
"Agreed." Yolanda affirmed.
"No! Okay, just... Holy crap, I should've prepared for this better."
"You really should've." Fuse said, walking past them and standing beside Yolanda. "Porter, Lulu."
"Fuse." Lulu rasped.
"Stand down, they're okay." He said, nodding to her gun. "Ship's clear. Lin and Red are gathering supplies. Once that's done, we'll start on her list."
Yolanda nodded, holstering the weapon and resting her arm on it. "Well, we could always use more super soldiers."
Fuse laughed. "Lulu, yeah. Not sure anything's super about Porter other than his mouth." Porter opened his mouth to retort, but Lulu pushed it shut and held it there. "I know about Alice, should we expect any other turncoat reunions or are you it?"
"Tim went AWOL shortly after we woke him. Didn't know about Halo, though. When'd that happen?" Porter asked.
"After she beat the absolute shit out of us." Yolanda grumbled.
"I knew that she'd been captured." Lulu said. "Didn't know she'd turned as well."
"Long story, which I guess we both have plenty of right now. Alright, so, why'd you turn on Caspar?" Fuse asked.
"Porter didn't think you were a threat." Lulu answered. "But Caspar made you one. Then held me hostage to keep him in line. When he and Rinku attacked Spire, we took off."
"Barely made it off-planet before the lockdown. But now we know why they locked it down." Porter continued. "Honestly, Caspar would've been bad enough, but Rinku..."
"Rinku again." Fuse muttered.
"Guy's in charge of pretty much everything now." Porter said.
Yolanda sighed. "Last we heard, he was still consolidating power. Had some weird mind control thing, too? Not sure I buy that."
"The guy absolutely has power. It doesn't work on us for some reason. I guess because of what the Program did to us. But he can basically make people worship him like a god and bend them to his will. It's scary stuff, man."
Fuse nodded. "So he's backing this grudge Caspar has against me?"
"He's got an agenda of his own, but you're kind of... on the way."
Fuse raised an eyebrow. "What's that mean?"
"He wants Lin." Lulu said. "She's his sister."
"The fuck?" Yolanda blurted out.
"Yeah, we don't really understand it all, just bits and pieces. She's his sister, but she's not. She's some kind of artificially created version." Porter said, whirling his hand dismissively. "It's all kind of fucked up."
"Artificial?" A quiet voice said from the other side of the cafeteria.
Lin stood next to Red holding a box that tipped out of her hands as she stared blankly ahead.
"Shit." Porter swore quietly, before clearing his throat. "Uh, don't be upset. I don't really know, okay? It could all be bullshit for all I know, right, Lu?"
Lulu didn't nod in agreement, which made Porter gape at her. "You dug this hole."
"Lin?" Fuse asked.
She snapped out of her daze and looked at Fuse. "Did you know?"
"I don't know anything about what he just said, Lin. If I had, I would've told you."
"Yolanda?" She asked quietly, looking at the other woman, who shrugged and shook her head.
Fuse walked over to her and gathered the things back into the box before putting it back into her hands. She looked up at him. "Kuro..."
"It doesn't matter." He said calmly, brushing hair out of her eyes.
"But-"
"It doesn't matter." He repeated, kissing her forehead. "You're you. That's all that we need to know, okay?" She nodded, but still looked torn. "Head back to the ship with Red. We'll handle the rest."
"You got it." The teen said as Fuse stepped to the side and let them go.
"Sorry." Porter said as they walked past. "I'm really sorry."
"Your mouth." Lulu said, kicking him in the shin hard enough to knock his leg out from under him.
"Fuck!" He cried as he fell unceremoniously to the ground.
"Lulu, you and Porter scavenge necessities." Fuse said, walking back over to them. "Lin's got a list of things we need to find to refit our ship. Double the hands-"
"Half the work." The couple intoned with a nod.
"Take a few of these weapons in case I missed someone." He nodded to the floor before gesturing for Yolanda. "Make multiple passes. You know the drill."
"Sir, yes sir." Porter said sarcastically, then straightened when Fuse stopped walking. "Sorry, man."
The teen turned his head slightly before continuing forward.
"Alright, on video and in reports, intimidating. In person? Scary." Porter sighed.
Lulu rolled her eyes and headed in the opposite direction, leaving him behind until he realized he was standing alone and jogged after her.
~
"Can we trust them?" Yolanda asked, looking over the list as Fuse dismantled a panel.
Fuse grunted. "Porter's got a mouth, but he's the most objective critical thinker behind Tim. If he thought what was going on was the right thing to do, they'd still be on Earth."
"What about her?"
"Lulu and Porter have been attached at the hip since the start of the Program." He pulled out a console and leaned back to check the tablet before dropping it into a bag and pulling out another. "They won't betray each other for anything, so Lulu checks out."
"Pretty lucky coincidence that they just happened to be on this ship, though." She muttered, checking the parts off as he hefted the bag.
He gave her an exasperated look. "Y'know, I'm pretty sure he planned it out that way."
"How?"
"Probably the same way Veronica Chase does. Attention to detail, precise guesses, good timing, and luck."
She grinned back. "Sounds dangerous."
"Sure does." He muttered as they walked down the hall.
"What about what he said about Lin?"
He shrugged. "Doesn't matter. She's a living, breathing person. Her being artificial could mean any number of things. A cloned embryo or something like that. Not being from Earth means that they could have tech on their planet that we haven't even conceived of yet. I'm more worried about Rinku being her brother."
"That does seem to pose the more relevant issue if we're planning on returning to Earth."
"More than 'if' at this point. We can't just abandon the others if there's a chance they're still alive." He said, stopping at a door and pressing a button to open it. "But we need to have the edge when we get there."
~
Red and Porter watched the pirate's ship detonate before joining Yolanda and Lulu at the small table they'd pulled out of a panel and folded down.
"Fuse'll want to hear your story, so don't bother telling it now." Yolanda said when Porter opened his mouth. "Right now, he's dealing with something more important."
"Funny how this whole thing started because of her." He observed.
The older woman narrowed her eyes. "Is it?"
"Well, funny as in how so many things had to happen the way they did to get to the point we're currently at and they all started with Fuse rescuing that girl. Any deviation along the way and it all falls apart. I mean, we were pretty much tracking the whole thing from the beginning, so from an objective viewpoint- I'm gonna stop talking because you look angry." He said while Lulu nodded in agreement.
"I always look mad." Yolanda said coolly.
"It's true." Red agreed, which earned him a dark look. "Well, you do..."
"The problem with your objective viewpoint is you've seen everything like a movie or a book. You didn't live through what we did. You're only coming into the story now, at the start of a new chapter. And you've brought with you a whole new script filled with new hurts and old fears."
Porter hung his head slightly. "I just thought-"
"Oh, I know what you thought. You escaped your own hell and joined us in ours because we have someone you think you can trust to save you from both. But we're just barely holding together as it is and you show up, run your goddamn mouth, and hurt someone I love like a sister. Now Fuse is trying to repair that damage because he's the only one who can. So, congratulations, he's already cleaning up your mess for you." She slapped the table twice to simulate clapping. "Red, go ahead and start dinner."
"Sure." He said, hopping over the back of the bench seat and began going through the food until he found several things to heat up and began cooking.
Twenty minutes later, he brought plates over to the table, sitting down when Yolanda scooted over for him. They ate in tense silence, none of them really tasting the salty food. When their plates were clear, Yolanda washed the dishes and prepped two more plates for Fuse and Lin before disappearing into the back of the ship.
"She's not a mean person. She just really cares about Fuse and Lin. She reminds me of Ana sometimes." He said with a sad smile. "I think that's just her way. The meaner she is, the more she cares."
"How old are you?" Lulu asked.
"Fourteen or fifteen, I think."
"You're very grown up for your age." She said with a small smile. "Where's your family?"
"Dead." He said, grinning bitterly. "Killed by pirates. Same with Ana, the woman who looked after me after it happened."
"I'm sorry." She replied.
He shrugged, but took a shuddering breath. "Yolanda says its why Fuse didn't want to leave survivors. I'm too weak to get revenge, so he's doing it for me."
"I don't think you're weak at all." Lulu said, placing her hand over his. "If you were, you never would've made it this far."
"Thank you."
They continued to sit silently until Yolanda returned with Fuse. He cleaned the two plates and returned them to their container before turning and looking at the table. "Alright."
"How's Lin?" Red asked.
"She'll be fine. Now hush." Yolanda said before turning her attention to the newcomers.
"The plan was simple. We were readying ourselves to take on Echelon. The real Echelon in Spire. Basically the Border War, but on a much larger scale. It's why we were brought back by the GA. They couldn't access Phoenicks' research and the doc himself was missing, so they reactivated us to try and replicate the process. In the meantime, to get us back in shape, they sent us on missions. Small things nobody would look twice at, but then those terrorists abducted Lin from C-Corp which put the spotlight back on the GA." Porter said, then shook his head. "But Rinku showed up and proved to be more valuable than Lin was. Which ingratiated him to the GA and HQ quite a bit and they asked him if he could replicate or improve what was done to us. Instead of that, he usurped power from them and claimed us as his personal task force. Mostly it was the same stuff we were already doing to gear up for the war with the Spire. But then Caspar saw you and..."
Fuse nodded. "Skip ahead. Why'd you pursue us?"
"Well, that was Rinku and Caspar together. Rinku learned who Lin was and since Caspar had a hate-boner for you, it kind of accelerated the timetable when you escaped to the Spire. There was a plan, but there were other conflicts brewing, especially after Mercy. It was either wait for war with the Frontier, or a show of might against the Spire. Since you two were there, the choice was clear."
"Does Rinku want Lin dead?" Yolanda asked
Lulu shook her head. "Not really. The idea was to take her alive, but if she got caught up, then it was of little consequence."
"So he sent Alice to extract Lin and kill us, hoping that would serve as an adequate diversion for their real attack." Fuse said.
Porter nodded. "We knew about the shuttles, which is why the launch hubs were targeted. But one shuttle got away and jumped. When I saw that, I had a feeling you were aboard. So while everyone was distracted with the battle, I grabbed Lu and we left the planet. I didn't expect the shuttle to jump as far as it did, but I guess those engines had some serious power in them. Our ship wasn't built for deep space, so before it ran out of power, I studied the charts and saw Albion was the closest. Out of range for our ship, but we could drift into the known pirate territory."
"How'd you end up on the same ship that pursued us from Albion?" Fuse asked.
"Dumb luck." Lulu replied.
Fuse shook his head and coughed to hide a chuckle. "So, the idea was that you two would eventually use your enhancements to take your chances on hijacking a pirate ship?"
Porter shrugged. "If it came to it, that was one option."
"You're an idiot." He said, then looked at Lulu. "And you're a bigger idiot for going along with that."
She hung her head, her ears turning red. "Sorry."
Sighing, he paced up and down the galley before looking back at Porter. "Tell me what you heard about Lin. Every detail."
His eyes widened with concern. "What if-"
"She's tougher than all of us put together." He said. "Now go on."
"Alright..." Porter took a breath to gather his thoughts. "What I heard was this; Apparently his parents tried to clone his dead sister. But the guy who did it couldn't use the DNA because something was wrong with it. So he used what he could to create Lin almost completely artificially. But she was seen as a monster, so Rinku tossed her in a ship when she was a toddler or something and sent her into space thinking she'd die."
Yolanda shook her head in disbelief while Red frowned at the table. "So... why does he want her back?"
Porter shrugged, but Lulu answered Red's question. "I heard him muttering about showing her pain."
"And that's my limit." Yolanda said, slapping the table and getting up. "Not sure what kind of science fiction level bullshit you're spouting, but it's just too fucked up for me."
"You're on a spaceship." Porter shot back.
She opened her mouth to reply, but shut it and left the galley.
"I think I'll go to bed, too." Red said, getting up from the table and heading the same direction.
"Probably a good idea." Fuse muttered. "Just follow Red. He'll show you to an empty bunk."
"Just one?" Porter said with a smirk.
"Goodnight." Came the terse reply as Fuse dropped into one of the pilot's seats.