space hippies

I turned from the observation window and the brown-grey land we approached to the crew, sitting, standing and scratching themselves in the Dog’s Head’s dining room.

‘OK. For those of you who don’t know, Tam’s made contact with the installation. We’re going to meet our first Ludenguard in a moment, probably an ambassador. Tell him nothing of worth. I know a few of you have yet to meet any of these beings but rest assured they are cruel, greedy and non-too nice to look at. Give them an inch and they’ll take a mile. Give them a parsec and they'll take twenty minutes. Watch your tongue, offer them nothing. This is business and they sure as hell know it and won't be playing fair.’

My crew looked completely despondent. I'd told the girls to dress up (or dress down) a bit by way of distraction. Melody complied grudgingly but Tam gave me the old one-two about being a male chauvinist. I hadn't even tried with Liz. Davvy, it had to be said, was looking rather dapper in black suit and striking blue shirt.

I had to divide my mind. Lem was Lem and he'd either win or fail - I couldn't worry about that until something kicked off, but with any luck nothing would. My concerns had to be for my tongue and my crew's tongues and bartering in such a way that the Ludenguard would give us our fuel and we could be on our way come lunchtime. Lem was to give a few arranged taps in the earpiece so I could hear he was safely back aboard the Dog’s Head and then we could shoot off in the direction of the mass relay and be home.

My biggest concern was Elizabeth and what she might do or tell the Ludenguard. I needed allies. I coughed, following Melody into the corridor as she collected her bag and holstered her gun.

I’ve known Melody many moons, since I left school in fact (and probably not the type of school you think I mean). Her folks had been new-age space hippies who chose love over weapons. When someone attacks me I shoot them, unfortunately Melody's family had no guns when they fell foul of pirates so Melody became just another orphan. It was on the streets of Araypter that we found each other and hatched some plans to get the money for a ship. Not everyone spends their days cruising round the cosmos in cool spacecraft - many can’t afford to or simply don’t fancy it. Instead they ride the stupid amount of motorbikes and quads you see on Arayptian roads. Anyway, me and Melody have been together a long time so I don’t want to lose her.

‘Melody?’

She looked up, brown bam-bam eyes probing.

‘I’m sorry I attacked you. We’re friends, aren’t we?’

She shrugged, delving into her bag.

‘Aren’t we? Melody?’

I touched her arm.

‘If you want to speak to me’, she rubbed an eye and ran it through bushy black hair, ‘take your mask off.’

I pulled off my mask. ‘Melody?’

‘Of course we’re bloody friends. Just get us through this morning, all right?’

‘I’ll do my best.’

The Dog’s Head

These certainly tickled the computer’s funny fuses – original concepts of the Dog’s Head vessel. They look like the guy sketched them during a lunch break... or possibly when drunk.

Dog's Head Log #34560

MELODY
I spoke to Liz earlier. She’s still leaving.

SYRAW
I know. Believe me.

MELODY
Captain...it’s not my place to say but can’t you talk her out of it?

SYRAW
You’re right, it’s not your place to say. You heard me try.

MELODY
It takes time-

SYRAW
Which is exactly what we don’t have. We’ll be at the installation in a little over two hours.

DAVVY
There you are, Captain, I fixed the-

SYRAW
Not now. Please go away Davvy. I’m talking with Melody here. Private conversation.

DAVVY
Bye then.

MELODY
...so?

SYRAW
You still here? Conversation over. Go trade cosmetic advice with Tam.

MELODY
...

SYRAW
You’re right. That wasn’t fair. I’m sorry.

MELODY
You’re losing people thick and fast Captain. Think about it. When...if we get to Araypter, why it could be just you and the compu-

SYRAW
You have two choices. Get off at the shithole we’re gonna barter for fuel at in two hours time, or stick with us through this bad patch so in a week we can sit in a bar in Araypter and have a good laugh. Your choice.

MELODY
You’re right. My choice.

no good reason

‘I’m not going to justify what I did Li-’

‘You couldn't if you tried. You ordered us into a bloodbath, Syraw. I know people don’t believe in your little cultists but your obsession got my... my Billy killed for no good reason.’

Her blue eyes were icy and tears smudged what little makeup she’d seen fit to apply in her state of raw mourning, a droplet gathering at the tip of her nose.

‘I know, I’m sorry about your husband Liz, I really am.’

‘No, you’re not. How many others have been killed like that under your command? They slit his fucking throat, Syraw. I watched them slit his throat.’

‘I know... I know. If we don’t stop the Cult though-’

‘Then what? There are plenty of crackpot religions spouting all kinds of nonsense, are you gonna have them all locked up or shot?’

It had come to the point where I’d run out of words. I couldn’t make her understand. Not if I moved the heavens for her. Not unless I could prove what I knew about the Cult with hard, irrevocable evidence, which of course I couldn’t. I knew how much it was harming Elizabeth to be in the same ship as me, breathing the same air, but I doubted it would be for too much longer, remembering Dr Jonko’s wise words - Let her go. Clean slate. She doesn’t want to be on the Dog’s Head. I looked from Elizabeth’s swollen lips, pale nose and cheeks to her watering eyes. Lips and eyes that had so recently loved and been loved, before I ripped love from her completely.

Recap #1

I am Syraw, a space man hunting down a mysterious cult I believe have the power and the inclination to destroy life as we know it. I wear a suit full of needles and I sometimes wear a mask too. Most of the time in fact, well - when I’m not in my spaceship the Dog’s Head. My crew consists of Tam (the pilot), Melody, Davvy (the ship’s doctor), Elizabeth, Lem (a thieving wretch), Billy and the ship’s computer. In my quarters I have a program featuring an assimilated friend called Dr Jonko, who also acts as my conscience when that part of my brain is fried.

Recently I went on an excursion to look for cultists but found a different kind of trouble, then I caught up with my crew and found yet more trouble, resulting in Billy’s death. Elizabeth, Billy’s wife, is about to get off the ship at the Ludenguard installation so she never has to see me again and I’m beginning to think this is a good idea. While we’re there we’re going to barter for much-needed fuel so we can get to the nearest mass-relay and catapult ourselves back into civilized space. Also, I’m sending Lem (currently in solitary for stealing rations) into the installation undercover; to pinch parts for the illegal energy weapon I hope to build with the aid of my Skyripper schematics. Things could be about to get hairy...

Warpath: Skyripper test

I backed away a little further, marvelling at the number of bodies – well, my bodies, which I’d amassed on the cold steel floor. Seven frail and see-through corpses, all mine, all twisted and broken. All because the prototype weapon whose schematics and vitals I'd inputted to use in Warpath was so powerful. I was literally firing too close and being hit in the radius. Thank god for V.R., otherwise it’d be the real me on the floor, all twisted up. A little note on Warpath by the way – and we’re talking the real Warpath here, not some cut-down lite version you can buy for your kids off the shelf – real Warpath hurts. It tricks your brain and your limbs and teaches you that real wars aren’t child’s play. There’s a lot of science and ingenuity involved and once upon a time it made a filthy-rich guy even more filthy-rich. Now it just makes his filthy-rich heirs even more rich. I’m not complaining though, heaven knows it has saved my skin more than once.

Dr Jonko

Davvy isn’t my cup of tea and like I said, I’m not keen on doctors in general. Dr Jonko however – now he’s a different kettle of fish. We sat on the sun-kissed Crown Plaza in Araypter and I told him all about Liz.

‘So, what do you think I should do?’

‘Let her go. Clean slate. She doesn’t want to be on the Dog’s Head. Then you have to mend things with the rest of them, with her out of the way they won’t be constantly reminded of your slip-ups.’

‘I’m a good Captain.’

‘Perhaps. You did get a few good people killed though. Chess?’

We played five games of chess and then I exited the Dr Jonko program, rubbing my temple as I readjusted to the light in my personal quarters of the Dog’s Head, also a mini-spacecraft of its own, called Tooth. I wriggled out of my suit, feeling the needles leave me for another day, then I loaded up the Warpath program to test out the Skyripper.