Freebooter's Hold by Jamie McFarlane

Freebooter's Hold by Jamie McFarlane

Author:Jamie McFarlane [McFarlane, Jamie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Fickle Dragon Publishing LLC
Published: 2020-03-27T16:00:00+00:00


14

Smuggler Wallet

"We gotta quit meeting like this," I said as Merrie's eyes fluttered open.

Tears sprang to her eyes. "I'm sorry I'm such a freak. I know what you must all think of me."

I shook my head. "You don't really."

"I'm the crazy woman with six arms. The only reason you keep me around is because I know how to make the refinery run."

"Not true. The refinery is running right now without you," I said. "Merrie, I won't lie. You add a lot of value… and your behavior is a bit erratic. Honestly, I'm surprised you're doing as well as you are. You were captured by an enemy who injected you with some sort of virus, reconfigured your body, and fed your brain with a constant urge to do their bidding. You're a living, breathing testament to why humanity has a chance and why I know we'll beat those spider bastards back to their rock."

"You think my behavior is erratic?" she asked.

I searched her face, trying to see if she was joking. There wasn't a trace of insincerity, so I played it straight. I nodded. "Merrie, sometimes you run around chirping like a madwoman. No doubt it's worse when you're injured, but people walk on eggshells around you."

"That's a weird thing to say."

"It's an idiom. People are afraid of being truthful with you because they worry you'll get upset."

"You don't seem too afraid."

"I live with a woman who can rip my arms from my sockets without breaking a sweat," I said. "Have you talked to Tabby about her experiences? She shared her body with the mother Iskstar crystal and it basically consumed her. The process was slow and insidious. The Iskstar felt nothing but remorse when they were causing Tabby pain, but there was no other choice if the colony was to survive. Tabby couldn't even hate them for what they'd done. She saw any expression of pain or complaint on her part as selfishness."

"That's why you're not afraid? I could hurt you, Liam. You know that, don't you? That's why people are afraid of me."

"Merrie, do you think that if I wanted to hurt you, I couldn't?"

"I'm stronger and faster," she said. "My brain processes multiple lines of thought simultaneously. Your attacks would be easily thwarted."

"Doesn't matter. If I wanted to hurt you, I could." She thought through my words and I waited until she nodded in agreement before I continued. "You're not afraid of me, though. Why?"

"Because you've never tried to hurt me."

"Not true. I cut your mechanical arms off once."

"Extenuating circumstances. I wasn't myself."

"Good. Now apply that to the people around you. You make them nervous because you're erratic. They fear what they can't understand. I don't fear you because I know you're just trying to get back to that girl I met on Ophir."

"I miss her."

"She's gone, Merrie. You have to let her go."

She shook her head. "I can't. I'll be lost. You're asking too much."

"Stop judging yourself based on that girl. Reinvent yourself. Accept your new body. Become comfortable with who you are today.



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