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The woman opposite let out a long and exasperated sigh of confusion. She wore a disbelieving look on her face as she leaned back on her chair, fingers on both hands lacing together to make an impromptu headrest for herself. “I mean, come on, I know that your situation isn’t exactly an enviable one, but you can’t actually be considering this? You’re going to let some company that nobody has heard of blast you off into space, with no idea at all where you’ll end up? You’ve got to see that this is a terrible idea”.
With the loud music that was blaring the club, Mackenzie couldn’t hear a single word that her companion was saying. She was relying purely on her ability to read lips and facial expressions. This was of course entirely intentional. The dim light mixed with strobe flashes made it difficult to recognise people unless you knew who you were looking for, and the chance of being overheard was non-existent. Right now, privacy was the only privilege left to Kenzie. Far too many people were looking for her, and she simply could not afford to be recognised.
“Gotta do it Liza, don’t got no other options” she replied with a casual shrug. It was entirely a façade, on the inside Mackenzie didn’t feel nearly as calm as she was portraying to her old friend. “Every scumbag and loan shark this side of the Panzhine Belt is after my bounty. It aint even about the money for them no more. Malik says I’m worth more as an example to others now, proof that you don’t fuck him around and live to laugh about it. That’s what he claims anyway, I know he’s got other motives”.
Liza shook her head. “Never thought I’d see the day when you let yourself get backed into a corner Kenzie. What even made you take a loan from Malik’s crew? You know better than most that the guy is nothing but bad news”.
“Well, about that… that’s why I called you out here Liza. That job I wouldn’t talk about a few months back? I took a little visit to the Ensab cluster”. As expected this drew a look of shock from the other woman, and the storyteller that resided inside Mackenzie couldn’t help but smile. She had no time for long stories right now though. “Well… turns out it’s quarantined for a reason, not just corporate greed. Long story short, I managed to get my arse out of that rock cloud with a about four kilos of impervium. Worth… hell I don’t know. The kinda money that have me set for life”.
Rolling up her sleeve, Mackenzie showed off her forearm, the veins of which were an angry green looking colour, very visible through the skin. “There’s a new kind of virus there as it turns out. Unique, never seen before. So I can’t exactly waltz into a hospital and ask for treatment, without them knowing exactly where I’ve been and what I’ve been up to, you get me? They’d fix me up, then execute me for breaking quarantine rules”.
Liza looked to be very pale across the table as she mouthed “Is it… you know…”
With a grin, Kenzie suggested “Contagious? Extremely.” but then shook her head. “I’m past the spreading stage now though, that green crap in my veins? That’s the medicine, not the disease. It’ll fade over the next few days until I’m perfectly back to normal again. Well, close as I ever get to normal anyway”.
Liza tilted her head to one side slightly and mused “So I guess that’s why you needed a loan? You mentioned that you’d burnt all your funds on preparing for the job, and had nothing to pay for treatment when you got back? You could have sold the Impervium”.
Kenzie shook her head “A piece that size? It’d take months to find a buyer that I could trust. I’da been dead by then. Thought about asking you, but I didn’t figure you had two million credits to your name. That’s what the treatment cost”.
In the roar the music Liza’s mouth formed a small ‘Oh’. That was by anybody’s standards, a hell of a lot of money.
Mackenzie nodded her agreement “Malik was the only one who’d agree to lend me what I needed. I think he suspected that I’d come back with more loot than I was letting on. Anyway, there were… complications in the treatment. It took a lot longer to complete than it should have, and I ran out of time to make the repayments. I’d bet my left tit that Malik had a hand in that. He sent a coupla’ goons just to try and scare me, but you know me, it takes more than a few beefcakes to throw me off.
Anyway, I arranged to meet him, pretending that I was ready to pay off what I owed, and he agreed to come in person. When he found out I couldn’t…. well he let something slip that makes me think he knows about the Impervium. That I could pay him back and all would be written off if I gave it to him. I played dumb of course, that weight is worth over a hundred times what I owe.
Thing is? I changed my mind a last week. I’ve got so many people coming after me that it’s only a matter of time before somebody takes me by surprise. I tried to get another meet, but one of boss’ guys owes me big time. He tipped me off that Malik planned on killing me anyway after taking the rock. Getting rid of any trace of the source, yeah?”
Liza nodded, seeming to understand. “So, you’re stuck with a vast fortune that you’ve no way of spending, a heartless killer who wants to take it from you. I mean honestly Kenzie, I’m flattered that you came to me with this, but there’s shit I can do about it”.
With a shaky smile, Mackenzie nodded. “I know that Liza, I know. I didn’t come here to ask for help”. Reaching into her pocket she pulled out a small flash drive and pushed it across the table to the other woman. Noticing the confused expression, she explained “Coordinates. I couldn’t keep that amount of impervium with me… far too conspicuous. I had to stash it. That’ll let you find it. It’s yours now”. Shrugging again she gave a little grin and added “Malik woulda found it eventually. I’d much rather you have it than that bastard”.
Liza sat stunned for a few moments, before reaching out a shaky hand and taking the drive. Mackenzie didn’t take it personally that the other woman didn’t say thank you. The two of them had lived hard lives, they weren’t accustomed to receiving gifts, let alone the manners that went with them.
“So this is really it? You’re going to go through with this plan of yours?” Liza asked. “I still don’t understand it”.
Kenzie nodded as she rolled her sleeve back up. The conversation was drawing to a close as she’d need to leave soon. The fewer people that saw them together the better. “There’s a company, Map-tech, who’re planning to map the entire universe. A crazy dream, it’ll never happen. But, they’re looking for volunteers. They’ve found a wormhole, one that they claim is safe to travel through. They need someone to pilot a ship through it, and jettison a tracking device back into the hole just before getting to the other side”.
Liza frowned at this “Why do they need a pilot for that? They could use an unmanned ship”.
Mackenzie laughed “The same reason anyone does anything. Money. They could spend years and a whole bunch of credits writing the software for it, or they can just hire some nobody who isn’t going to be missed”.
The full truth seemed to dawn on Liza then ask she asked “Missed? How long will you be gone for? And where will you actually be?”
Before she could answer, Kenzie felt a vibration at her wrist and looked down. Fifteen minutes, the time she’d allotted for this meeting had passed. If she stayed too much longer she’d risk someone getting too curious about why she was sitting here with her hood up. Worse, someone might recognise her. She couldn’t just walk away now though, not after that question. In answer, she simply shook her head at first.
Her longtime friend had never really been particularly clever, but in truth Mackenzie had also needed some of what was going to happen explaining to her. “Liza… I won’t be coming back. This wormhole? It’s a one-way only kinda deal. The gravity in there is sort of… unbalanced. It sucks things in at our end, and spits them out at the other. It doesn’t go both ways. As for where I’ll end up?” Mackenzie shrugged again.
“The people at Map-tech told me that they’ve detected oxygen and bio-molecules in very faint traces coming through the wormhole. That means that there’s probably at least one planet or moon with breathable air, and somewhere, there’s something that’s alive. I called in a favour, and a friend confirmed it for me. They’re telling the truth. It’s a slim chance, but maybe I’ll be able to build a new life wherever I arrive”.
The watch buzzed again.
“Liza, I really gotta go. I wish I had more time… hell if I’m wishing for things then there’s probably a whole bunch of things I’d change, but… dammit. Just promise me you’ll keep yourself safe. And I put a few names on that drive for you. People who still owe me a few favours, and someone who’ll help you sell the impervium. Take his advice, he’s a very good friend, and one of the handful I actually trust”.
By now Liza had tears in her eyes, and it surprised Kenzie that she did too. Why? She liked to think she had hardened herself to the world, become what she had needed to in order to survive. Despite the urgent need to leave, she found herself sitting still.
“Does… does that mean that I finally won the game?” Liza asked, a slightly hysterical smile parting her lips.
The game… it had been so long since Mackenzie had thought of it that way. When they had been young, homeless girls living on the streets together the two of them had invented an ideal, which they had come to simply call ‘the game’. The rules were simple, take a life with which you started with nothing, and do whatever it takes to survive, and supposedly the game got easier the more you played.
Feeling a tear roll down her cheek, Kenzie shook her head. “No Liza, you haven’t won yet. You had the best hand in this round, but it’s not over. If you play your cards right… maybe someday”.
Unable to take it anymore, Kenzie stood up abruptly and left, not looking back. She thought she heard her name being called, but over the throb of the music it could have just been her imagination. She couldn’t look Liza in the eye and lie to her. The truth about the game, the truth that Liza had never understood, was that you you played, everyone did. You could struggle, lie, cheat, steal or honestly work your way to the top. Survive against all the odds, or have success handed to you. In the end though, there was always one player who cheated, who broke the rules – death.
You could play the game, but only death would ever win.
With the loud music that was blaring the club, Mackenzie couldn’t hear a single word that her companion was saying. She was relying purely on her ability to read lips and facial expressions. This was of course entirely intentional. The dim light mixed with strobe flashes made it difficult to recognise people unless you knew who you were looking for, and the chance of being overheard was non-existent. Right now, privacy was the only privilege left to Kenzie. Far too many people were looking for her, and she simply could not afford to be recognised.
“Gotta do it Liza, don’t got no other options” she replied with a casual shrug. It was entirely a façade, on the inside Mackenzie didn’t feel nearly as calm as she was portraying to her old friend. “Every scumbag and loan shark this side of the Panzhine Belt is after my bounty. It aint even about the money for them no more. Malik says I’m worth more as an example to others now, proof that you don’t fuck him around and live to laugh about it. That’s what he claims anyway, I know he’s got other motives”.
Liza shook her head. “Never thought I’d see the day when you let yourself get backed into a corner Kenzie. What even made you take a loan from Malik’s crew? You know better than most that the guy is nothing but bad news”.
“Well, about that… that’s why I called you out here Liza. That job I wouldn’t talk about a few months back? I took a little visit to the Ensab cluster”. As expected this drew a look of shock from the other woman, and the storyteller that resided inside Mackenzie couldn’t help but smile. She had no time for long stories right now though. “Well… turns out it’s quarantined for a reason, not just corporate greed. Long story short, I managed to get my arse out of that rock cloud with a about four kilos of impervium. Worth… hell I don’t know. The kinda money that have me set for life”.
Rolling up her sleeve, Mackenzie showed off her forearm, the veins of which were an angry green looking colour, very visible through the skin. “There’s a new kind of virus there as it turns out. Unique, never seen before. So I can’t exactly waltz into a hospital and ask for treatment, without them knowing exactly where I’ve been and what I’ve been up to, you get me? They’d fix me up, then execute me for breaking quarantine rules”.
Liza looked to be very pale across the table as she mouthed “Is it… you know…”
With a grin, Kenzie suggested “Contagious? Extremely.” but then shook her head. “I’m past the spreading stage now though, that green crap in my veins? That’s the medicine, not the disease. It’ll fade over the next few days until I’m perfectly back to normal again. Well, close as I ever get to normal anyway”.
Liza tilted her head to one side slightly and mused “So I guess that’s why you needed a loan? You mentioned that you’d burnt all your funds on preparing for the job, and had nothing to pay for treatment when you got back? You could have sold the Impervium”.
Kenzie shook her head “A piece that size? It’d take months to find a buyer that I could trust. I’da been dead by then. Thought about asking you, but I didn’t figure you had two million credits to your name. That’s what the treatment cost”.
In the roar the music Liza’s mouth formed a small ‘Oh’. That was by anybody’s standards, a hell of a lot of money.
Mackenzie nodded her agreement “Malik was the only one who’d agree to lend me what I needed. I think he suspected that I’d come back with more loot than I was letting on. Anyway, there were… complications in the treatment. It took a lot longer to complete than it should have, and I ran out of time to make the repayments. I’d bet my left tit that Malik had a hand in that. He sent a coupla’ goons just to try and scare me, but you know me, it takes more than a few beefcakes to throw me off.
Anyway, I arranged to meet him, pretending that I was ready to pay off what I owed, and he agreed to come in person. When he found out I couldn’t…. well he let something slip that makes me think he knows about the Impervium. That I could pay him back and all would be written off if I gave it to him. I played dumb of course, that weight is worth over a hundred times what I owe.
Thing is? I changed my mind a last week. I’ve got so many people coming after me that it’s only a matter of time before somebody takes me by surprise. I tried to get another meet, but one of boss’ guys owes me big time. He tipped me off that Malik planned on killing me anyway after taking the rock. Getting rid of any trace of the source, yeah?”
Liza nodded, seeming to understand. “So, you’re stuck with a vast fortune that you’ve no way of spending, a heartless killer who wants to take it from you. I mean honestly Kenzie, I’m flattered that you came to me with this, but there’s shit I can do about it”.
With a shaky smile, Mackenzie nodded. “I know that Liza, I know. I didn’t come here to ask for help”. Reaching into her pocket she pulled out a small flash drive and pushed it across the table to the other woman. Noticing the confused expression, she explained “Coordinates. I couldn’t keep that amount of impervium with me… far too conspicuous. I had to stash it. That’ll let you find it. It’s yours now”. Shrugging again she gave a little grin and added “Malik woulda found it eventually. I’d much rather you have it than that bastard”.
Liza sat stunned for a few moments, before reaching out a shaky hand and taking the drive. Mackenzie didn’t take it personally that the other woman didn’t say thank you. The two of them had lived hard lives, they weren’t accustomed to receiving gifts, let alone the manners that went with them.
“So this is really it? You’re going to go through with this plan of yours?” Liza asked. “I still don’t understand it”.
Kenzie nodded as she rolled her sleeve back up. The conversation was drawing to a close as she’d need to leave soon. The fewer people that saw them together the better. “There’s a company, Map-tech, who’re planning to map the entire universe. A crazy dream, it’ll never happen. But, they’re looking for volunteers. They’ve found a wormhole, one that they claim is safe to travel through. They need someone to pilot a ship through it, and jettison a tracking device back into the hole just before getting to the other side”.
Liza frowned at this “Why do they need a pilot for that? They could use an unmanned ship”.
Mackenzie laughed “The same reason anyone does anything. Money. They could spend years and a whole bunch of credits writing the software for it, or they can just hire some nobody who isn’t going to be missed”.
The full truth seemed to dawn on Liza then ask she asked “Missed? How long will you be gone for? And where will you actually be?”
Before she could answer, Kenzie felt a vibration at her wrist and looked down. Fifteen minutes, the time she’d allotted for this meeting had passed. If she stayed too much longer she’d risk someone getting too curious about why she was sitting here with her hood up. Worse, someone might recognise her. She couldn’t just walk away now though, not after that question. In answer, she simply shook her head at first.
Her longtime friend had never really been particularly clever, but in truth Mackenzie had also needed some of what was going to happen explaining to her. “Liza… I won’t be coming back. This wormhole? It’s a one-way only kinda deal. The gravity in there is sort of… unbalanced. It sucks things in at our end, and spits them out at the other. It doesn’t go both ways. As for where I’ll end up?” Mackenzie shrugged again.
“The people at Map-tech told me that they’ve detected oxygen and bio-molecules in very faint traces coming through the wormhole. That means that there’s probably at least one planet or moon with breathable air, and somewhere, there’s something that’s alive. I called in a favour, and a friend confirmed it for me. They’re telling the truth. It’s a slim chance, but maybe I’ll be able to build a new life wherever I arrive”.
The watch buzzed again.
“Liza, I really gotta go. I wish I had more time… hell if I’m wishing for things then there’s probably a whole bunch of things I’d change, but… dammit. Just promise me you’ll keep yourself safe. And I put a few names on that drive for you. People who still owe me a few favours, and someone who’ll help you sell the impervium. Take his advice, he’s a very good friend, and one of the handful I actually trust”.
By now Liza had tears in her eyes, and it surprised Kenzie that she did too. Why? She liked to think she had hardened herself to the world, become what she had needed to in order to survive. Despite the urgent need to leave, she found herself sitting still.
“Does… does that mean that I finally won the game?” Liza asked, a slightly hysterical smile parting her lips.
The game… it had been so long since Mackenzie had thought of it that way. When they had been young, homeless girls living on the streets together the two of them had invented an ideal, which they had come to simply call ‘the game’. The rules were simple, take a life with which you started with nothing, and do whatever it takes to survive, and supposedly the game got easier the more you played.
Feeling a tear roll down her cheek, Kenzie shook her head. “No Liza, you haven’t won yet. You had the best hand in this round, but it’s not over. If you play your cards right… maybe someday”.
Unable to take it anymore, Kenzie stood up abruptly and left, not looking back. She thought she heard her name being called, but over the throb of the music it could have just been her imagination. She couldn’t look Liza in the eye and lie to her. The truth about the game, the truth that Liza had never understood, was that you you played, everyone did. You could struggle, lie, cheat, steal or honestly work your way to the top. Survive against all the odds, or have success handed to you. In the end though, there was always one player who cheated, who broke the rules – death.
You could play the game, but only death would ever win.