Free Replay by Drew Wagar Page A

pirates, police, anyone.
It sure made life interesting.
      We were travelling from.... ( a pause) … from Rexebe . Carrying a
cargo of …. ( a pause again) narcotics... what? No,
can't be – we wouldn't! ( pause ) Textiles. That was it.
      The scanner showed only two ships.   One belonged to his compatriot, the other was the single remaining pirate. Those cowards had bitten off more
than they could chew! The pirate vessel was attempting to flee.
    Jax opened the narrow-band and hesitated.
      I must have been hit harder than I thought!
I can't even remember her name! Funny how my head doesn't hurt or anything, I
better get myself checked out station-side. I can't afford to black out in the
midst of a fight!
      The name came to him moments after he thought
about it.
    ' Fion ! Let them go. They've learnt
their lesson.'
    'No
way, they cost us three missiles and a ton of cargo. That's coming out of their
hides!' was the immediate response.
    He
saw Fion's ship fire its injectors, thrusting forward
in pursuit of the fleeing pirate.
    'Wait!'
    The
pirate vessel turned, attempting to escape, veering onto a different
trajectory. Laser fire flashed in the depths of space.
    A
plaintive cry echoed across the wide-band.
    'Please,
we're sorry! We surrender! Don't kill us! We're desperate, we didn't mean any
harm, you don't know how it is, we're broke, we needed
the money....!'
    ' Fion ! Don't, it's not worth it!'
    There
was a distant flash of light, the signature of a dying ship.   One of the indicators on the scanner
flickered and disappeared.
    'Got
the ' stards !' came the cry of triumph, 'Twenty
credits! Yay!'
    Fion's ship came blazing back towards him, neatly sliding into
formation alongside his own vessel.
    'Hey,
where's the 'right on, commander'?' Fion's voice
demanded across the narrow-band, 'Are you sure you're ok?'
    'I'm
fine.' he replied, 'You didn't need to kill them.'
    'They
had it coming.'
    'So
do we . A bit of mercy today might payback in our
favour.'
    ' Fluxwash !' came the rejoinder. He
could see her in his mind's eye, a pouting face, framed by flaming red hair,
'Kill or be killed. They attacked us, remember?'
    'Sync your ...' he paused again, the familiar word not
immediately being recalled, 'Torus drive with me. Let's get station-side.'
     
    The
cargo was sold, fees and transfers paid, permits
checked, licenses renewed. The business was complete. Fion and Jax sat sipping an Anlian gin in the station bar.
    'What
is the matter?' Fion asked, looking at him, trying to
hide some concern.
    'No.' Jax replied, 'I don't feel right at all. What
happened in that fight? Did I take a hit? There's no damage to the ship. I
can't remember things properly.'
    'The fight?' Fion paused, as if trying
to recall herself, 'They attacked us, two Sidewinders and a Python. We took a
Sidewinder apiece. I didn't see a missile hit you.'
    'Must have been something. My mind feels like mush.'
    'You've
been working too hard.' She leant forward and gave him a suggestive kiss, 'You
need to relax.'
    'I
think I should see a medic.' he said seriously, 'I passed out in that fight!'
    She
pouted, 'Do the drugs if you need to, I'll be waiting!'
    He
grinned at her, and took a deep slug of the Anlian gin, 'I'll be there. Just you...'
    The
Gin must have been stronger than he thought. There was a flash of multicoloured light and he felt himself slipping away.
      Not again!
     
      'He's fine.' the medic said, looking over the
instrumentation one more time, 'Overwork, stress. The usual
combination. Lay over for a few days and
recuperate.'
    'Are
you sure?' Jax replied, he felt uneasy, as if he was
missing something.
    'You
fly the ships buddy, leave the fleshware to me .' the medic replied, 'You flew a long stint, had a firefight , traded for hours non-stop and then consumed
nothing but intoxicant and you wonder why you passed out. You're exhausted.'
    'There's
nothing else wrong with me?'
    The
medic seemed very relaxed, 'Nothing that some bed rest won't