I visit Krenshar almost every day, he helps me with repairing my ship and other needful things like that. I pretty much start my day with him, it always starts with "Good Day, Miss Jai." But today it was "Goodbye, Miss Jai."
He glitches now and again, goes catatonic almost every hour and at random, so I thought it best to inquire. He told me that Mindo and AuroraBlue were visiting today and that Mindo could fix Aurora Blue, but it would require ending Krenshar and that he agreed to do so. I slapped him around with my dolly, but there was no slapping sense into that stubborn replicant. Well, he did have enough sense to ditch me to stop the slapping, but other than that nooooo. Friggin' Frakin' Frellin' Gorram Bastich ornery replicant. Mutters, grumbles.
I did what any good friend would do. I called all my friends who owned guns. Gabe, Gallagher and Vega were the only ones around. Typical for a Tuesday, wounds day is the day before Wednesday.
Gallagher set up security bugging and cameras and we set up posts and Vega helped. Vega figured that x0x0 would be using the boarding house for something nefarius. Gabe cleaned and oiled Brunhilda and I suppose some of Brunhilda's sisters and cousins.
I played with my dolly. I had a LilyBell Dolly, been keeping it around. I usually talk with LilyBell every day and it has been stressful, it helps. Silly, I know. Gabe gives her guns names, gun happy hippy. I modified my dolly to be the holster for my Liberty Hammer and put some lead pellets in the head so I can bash in baddies. I modified the claymores I picked up from my pals at the 12th Air Cavalry.
Unwisely, I confronted the mayor and x0x0 at the Mayor's office. I asked innocent questions like, "What time is Mindo due in? You know, Mindo, greasy hair, blue gloves, sciencey guy. Your brother. Because if Mindo is coming, then there is a small chance that LilyBell is coming. And I would be happy to have treats and shiny things for her."
x0x0 Zhangsun: "Your words are not as direct as they sound, Jail. I suggest you keep your pretty nose out of Mindo's business and mine.
Jai Raghilda: "I have no interest in your or Mindo's business."
x0x0 made a cliché'd veiled threat to me thru Gabe. x0x0 Zhangsun looks at Gabe "Keep a leash on your friend. Things happen to people out here in the rim."
Madame Mayor Seana Kawanishi told me that she knows where Lilybell is and that she will go get her when the time is right.
That made me feel better, almost. I would not have harassed people and extorted information out of them on 3 planets if she told me that the first time. Choice of words can make a lot of difference. I did not take comfort from her previous choice of wording.
We set up in the Hemlock, but the cameras and bugs were not working how we liked so we moved to the Zenobian's vault. Some heavy lifting and viola, a chilltastic couch and closed circuit television and listening devices. The ultimate stake out setup.
The joy of setup evaporated as we saw Krenshar, stripped of his skin curled up in front of the spaceport's church.
AuroraBlue finally shows up. Checked on Krenshar and then headed out to the Mayor's office.
Gallagher leaves the vault and interacts with AuroraBlue.
Quite a bit of dialogue is passed around, the bottom line is that AuroraBlue has been lead to believe that only vital parts of LilyBell and Krenshar can fix her, but it would result in killing LilyBell and Krenshar. Gallagher was fearless in delivering the bad news that he would not help.
This is to hold Blue. Blue is broken, a nutter looney.
It was way more complex than that, but this is a blog, not a novel.
x0x0 arranging for radio silence in Hale, if you can imagine that. We find her on the radar and sure enough, x0x0 brings in Mindo the mad. Shackled and chained in a double locked room at the boarding house with a blue sun operative as a guard. At some point the coast is clear and Gallagher interogates Mindo, which was mostly worthless. Gallagher unwisely underestimates Mindo and leaves AuroraBlue with him. Somehow, Mindo gets unshackled, shackles AuroraBlue and tricks Vega into helping him escape. He was last seen in the mines. All this in the time it took me to take a little bathroom break. Gabe saw the whole thing though.
Gabe, Vega and I make a search for Mindo, but he was long gone. We checked a few vital installations that we knew of as well. We heard later that x0x0 put a tracking device on Mindo. I think she planned on him escaping. She executed the operative in cold blood in front of 3 witnesses. No one cared. Welcome to the Rim, Jai.
Back at the Mayor's Office, x0x0 spent a lot of effort posturing me to intimidate me. Thankfully, I already had my potty break, because I really was scared. I put on a brave front, depending that Gallagher and Seana would not allow anything to happen to me. I also suspected that she couldn't kill me, because she had a gap in her plan and I told her so.
Jai: "Blah blah blah x0x0. Killing me is easy, it won't impress anyone. You must be a weak hand or else you'd play it. What do you have?"
x0x0 Zhangsun: "I have no desire to kill you. You are harmless, annoying, but harmless. If I wanted to kill you, you would be dead."
Jai "Then shut up about it, don't waste your time intimidating me. If I act scared will you move forward?"
Then I steadied myself to see if she really could kill me with her mind.
At the request of the mayor, I left.
I guessed right, x0x0 needed me alive. She knew I knew where Mindo's Ship was and had been there. With Gabe by the way. We were doing recon. We couldn't get access. X0x0 also knew that LilyBell trusted me and that it would help.
With a little doing, I lead x0x0 to the ship. We found the cell LilyBell was being kept in. She was very weak. She purred softly hearing my voice and weakly whispered, "Gallagher?" Well, she still had her priorities. I assured her as best as I could that Gallagher was waiting for her and to hold on. x0x0 tried to hack the codes of the doors. I suggested a few codes. Suggesting "xyz" shocked her.
While x0x0 tried to hack the door I tried to see if I could find something that would help. What I got was attacked by some steroid Uber-Reaver. Yeah, I was knocked out cold, I suck. As I was coming to, I saw x0x0 standing very still and making some creepy deep guteral sound and I am not sure, but it appeared that maybe SHE KILLED HIM WITH HER BRAIN. Granted, I was delirious.
We managed to get access to the main bridge and get a copy of Mindo's records. I am delivering a copy to the Mayor tomorrow, I am a team player.
The pictures were interesting, some were of only sentimental value, x0x0, LilyBell, AuroraBlue. Of interest to x0x0 was how Mindo got the pictures. She was clearly moved by several of the pictured. Couldn't stop referring to AuroraBlue and LilyBell as "it" though. My God, people even refer to their car boat, plane, ship and gun in the feminine. It would be a productive social lubricant it she would make more liberal use of the word "SHE".
X0x0 couldn't figure out how to hack the door to the cell LilyBell was in and I left in tearful protest and under duress. I was attacked by another Uber-Reaver in x0x0's ship. I was knocked cold, I suck. X0x0 made short work of the Uber-Reaver using a knife and a neck artery.
x0x0 got clearance to take me directly to the infirmiry. I got healed up and headed back to Desse's apartment, flopped on the bed. Made one last call.
Madame Mayor, its Jai. I just left the infirmiry. I spoke with Lilybell. Lilybellis NOT in a place I would call safe, more like the belly of the Beast.
Seana Kawanishi: It was safe for -her- there, not for you.
Jai Raghilda: Luckily, I am a team player. I downloaded records from Mindo's ship, I will provide a copy for you. See you tomorrow. I am going to tend to my wounds and go to sleep.
Seana Kawanishi: Deal with your wounds, Jai, and be thankful you got off that boat alive.
Jai Raghilda drifts off into pain-killer induced slumber, forgetting the drama of the day and dreams of being a surfing bank intern on a tropial island back on old Earth-That-Was. Ironically, the bank intern dreams of being Jai.
Addendum, Pictures from Mindo's Records:
No idea what this is, but I think it might be important.
This might be Mindo as a reaver. Mindo experiments on himself making himself into a reaver, trying to create a cure or at least a vaccine. We suspect that some of his research may have been used to create the current spate of reaver. Just a theory, we do have a real scientist working on it.
A copy of Malcom Reynolds police record for some reason. X0x0 was shocked by this one.
Dunno.
More Reavers I presume. Whether found or made, I don't know.
A reaver victim I presume.
The following are pictures from Mindo's records, mostly of a personal matter. x0x0 expressed confusion about several, questioning how Mindo could have gotten copies.
Picture of x0x0 with Immy the day she left her family. Pretty dress with garish blue gloves. Fashion issues.
Picture of x0x0 the day she ran f....left the Alliance. x0x0 did not know how Mindo got this picture.
LilyBell in her old home on Blackburne.
Picture of AuroraBlue shortly after she was born.
A picture of LilyBell while she was kept in stasis about 4 months ago.
Picture of LilyBell in her Duputy Uniform.
A picture of LilyBell and Gallagher doing the tango.
A closeup of LilyBell.
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