Free Vitalis Omnibus by Jason Halstead

back to her. The pirates, the sniper rifle, the voice she had heard, and the name Emily. “What have I done?” she whispered to herself.
    She stood up on shaky legs. Her body ached, causing her to move slowly and stiffly across the room to a mirror. The bunkroom was communal, a necessity of limited crew space aboard the transport vessel, yet she was the only one in it. She stared at her reflection, noting the bruises in the early stages of showing color, as well as the edges of burn marks that appeared beneath some of her bandages.
    “I killed seven men,” she whispered again. She watched as her chin trembled at the memory of it.
    “Knock it off; it’s not like it’s the first time!”
    Kira gasped, her grief forgotten. She spun around but with her body stiff and aching , she made it worse by falling to the cool steel floor. She craned her neck, looking all around the room but saw nothing. She climbed back to her feet slowly, groaning at the pain in her burned leg and bruised back. She glanced into the mirror again, with only a flicker of interest, and felt her heart leap into her throat.
    She spun again, looking behind her, but saw nothing. Back in the mirror , she saw a silhouette of a figure that seemed shrouded in shadow. It stood still, facing her back. “Em…Emily?”
    “ You did well today, Kira. I’m proud of you. All the time and money I spent seems to have paid off. ”
    Kira’s hand flew to her mouth, muffling her gasp. “You’re...you’re not real! I made you up as a kid!”
    The shadowed figure stepped forward slowly. The shadows began to lighten as though she was coming into the light. “ I’m as real as you are, Kira. You sent me away, but I wasn’t ready to go. After all we’d shared — all the help I’d given you. ”
    Kira realized she was nodding. “I really am crazy,” she whispered.
    The figure shrugged. “ I hated you, you know. I wanted to hurt you for what you did to me. You sent me away, after you were the only person who ever cared for me. But I couldn’t — if I hurt you, I’d hurt myself. ”
    “I’m sorry,” she whispered to the woman in the mirror. It was obviously a woman; the shadows had faded to show a tall and shapely person wearing what Kira recognized as the bodysuit she had so recently worn.
    “ I know you are ,” she heard in her head. “ You weren’t ready — I know that now. I’ve gotten tired of my life, Kira. Of our life. It was only half a life and it wasn’t the fun part. You’ve never had the good part, either. I kept it from you. That’s not fair, and I understand that. I want you to be whole again, Kira. I want you to live and to do everything you should do. I even like Eric, not as much as you, but I’ve only talked to him once .”
    Kira gasped. She remembered hearing Eric call Emily’s name in the passage before she had blacked out. No, not blacked out ; she’d passed out. She understood that now.
    Emily stepped closer, the shadows fading from her face to reveal to Kira that she was staring at two images of herself in the mirror. One, the real one, in front of the mirror, and the other just slightly behind her and to her left. She felt her chin trembling again.
    “ Be strong, Kira. You wouldn’t believe the things we’ve done over the years. Eight pirates was impressive, but we’ve pushed the line even further before. Now it’s all about you. There’s no tie to the money or to Kira Eskew, only Emily Bradford. My time is over; yours is just beginning. Live for us, Kira. Do all the things I could never do. ”
    Kira felt the tears run down her cheeks. She nodded, both fearful and excited at the prospects ahead of her. “I won’t wake up and find Eric missing!” she whispered.
    “ Eric might need you more than you need him ,” Emily told her. “ Now stop talking to yourself. It makes you look crazy. ”
    Kira laughed at the joke. She wanted to turn but she knew it would do her no good. She watched instead as Emily stepped to