Nellie and the Nanites - Bk2 - Ch.6

Chapter Six

Walls.

Nellie practically vibrated in her seat as she flew away from Duke’s place. She was still careful not to speak until they were almost half an hour from the farm. He was clearly a man with abilities beyond anything she had imagined before. It was only wise to be cautious.

“Well?” She asked eventually.

“Well, what?” Lucy asked in her too-casual voice.

“What do you think of the ship? Of going to unexplored space?” Nellie asked.

“The ship is great,” Lucy admitted grudgingly. “Would you be willing to go outside the sectors?”

“Of course,” Nellie smiled as she flew. “Lucy, we could be free to be open about the nanites out there!”

“You need to consider this carefully,” Lucy warned. “Leaving behind everything you know, everything you have built… it won’t be easy.”

“I know,” Nellie nodded. “But all I have here is you and Paren. What else do I have? I can’t have friends without worrying they will try and kill me if they find out about us, or worse, they die when someone else finds out and vaporizes the planet.”

“We have no idea what is out there,” Lucy said carefully. “I can’t even guarantee we would ever see a human again.” She sighed. “Just be sure before you commit to this.”

“I promise,” Nellie said. “We have plenty of time to decide, but answer this for me, Lucy… what else would we do?” She huffed. “Hide all our lives?”

“Our lives?” Lucy sounded happy. “Like, together?”

“Yeah, why?” Nellie asked as she brought the shuttle in to land at the yard.

“Nothing!” Lucy sounded jubilant, but Nellie was already thinking about Paren.

How would she take this?

===<<<>>>===

Crush-Cha felt life come back into him slowly. The implant dialed up his system slowly, letting everything fade back in. It stopped the agent from jerking awake and giving away the game.

They had been told that.

They were not told how awful it would feel.

He woke blind and paralyzed with no feeling anywhere in his body. Sensation arrived gradually, starting with the core of his body and spreading out to his extremities slowly. But he was still paralyzed, unable to move as his lungs began to burn and his system filled with adrenaline.

Finally, he was able to take a small, shaky breath. When his vision and sound returned, he really wished they hadn’t. Crush found himself in a press of cold dead bodies. A body pile. What kind of people did this?

A rumbling sensation and intermittent light through the bodies above suggested he was moving, and he heard a rumbling sound.

Forcing his way to the surface, pushing aside the dead bodies around him as he rose, Crush-Cha found himself in an open-topped metal container.

Listening intently, he could hear no voices, but the rumbling was getting louder. Peeking over the edge of the container almost made his heart stop again.

He was in a processing plant. A series of containers ahead and behind his all contained piles of dead bodies.

The true terror was what waited at the end of the line.

A furnace.

Crush-Cha scrambled out of the container, dropping as soundlessly as he could into the shadow of the moving conveyor belt. Slipping underneath it, he crept forward on all fours.

The heat built slowly until he was as close as he dared get to the mouth of the furnace. Each container came to the edge, turned, and dumped its load into the flames before trundling off towards a distant corner.

There was a small gap where the conveyor was too close to the flames, and no shadows would hide him. Timing it as best he could, Crush-Cha scrambled over the hot metal of the floor and pushed under the far side of the conveyor.

Following the conveyor to the end of the line left him in a storage area; the only exit he could see was a vent in the very ceiling. A large mechanical arm stacked the containers automatically and moved ceaselessly between the conveyor and the nearest stack.

Crush crouched and waited, timing his leap. When the time came, he almost slipped, his feet slick with sweat from the heat and anxiety. His hands only just managed to grab the passing arm, and he swung himself onto the top as it shot towards the highest pile of containers.

Leaping onto the container as the arm dropped it, Crush scrambled out just in time to avoid the next one slamming down on top of him.

Taking a moment to breathe and shake his arms and legs, Crush-Cha launched himself up, grabbing the lip of the vent and pulling himself inside.

Bracing his legs against the sides, he took stock.

He was free, no one had seen him, and the Feds thought he was dead.

Managing to escape the furnace and being crushed by the arm was nothing to be sneezed at. In all, he considered it a good job.

He just wished he had anticipated them stripping his body first.

Naked and alone, Crush began to climb the vent.

===<<<>>>===

“Paren! Can I talk to you, please?” Nellie knocked on the shed door, trying to fight off the hesitation she was feeling.

“What?” Paren’s voice sounded shaky, which nearly made Nellie run away.

“Can I talk to you?” Nellie asked again.

“Umm, no?” Paren tried.

“Paren, I’m really sorry, okay?” Nellie said, leaning her head against the door between them. “I never wanted to do that; I was just scared of losing you.”

“What?” Paren sounded suspicious.

“Will you talk to me, please?” Nellie asked again, practically begging. It felt like a knife twisting in her heart.

The door slowly opened, just a crack.

“Hi,” Nellie wiped her eyes and smiled.

“Why are you crying?” Paren asked, her own eyes red.

“I’m so sorry I did that,” Nellie said. “Really, I am.”

“Aren’t you mad at me?” Paren asked, looking like a little girl suddenly.

“Why would I be mad?” Nellie asked, feeling lost at the abrupt change in direction.

“I froze,” Paren said sullenly. “We could have both been killed.” She sniffed. “All because I was afraid.”

“Paren,” Nellie said seriously, “You did nothing wrong; it was just… a shitty surprise.”

“You didn’t freeze,” Paren said angrily.

“I have a bit of practice with things suddenly going to shit,” Nellie laughed bitterly. “It is kind of my thing.”

“So you’re not going to get rid of me? Or turn me off or whatever it is you do to drones?” Paren asked.

“No!” Nellie was horrified. “Why would you think that?”

“You’ve been avoiding me!” Paren said, crying a little even as she tried to look tough. “I always get told to go when I mess up. I know how it goes.” She crossed her arms.

“You’ve been avoiding me!” Nellie protested. “You wouldn’t come out unless I was gone!” She swiped a hand through her hair. “Paren, I’m not angry, and even if I was… I’m never going to get rid of you, okay?”

“Promise?” Paren asked suspiciously.

“Promise,” Nellie said, wiping her tears away. “Promise, promise.”

“Okay,” Paren said, smiling a little as she wiped her own tears away. “You’re really not mad?”

“Not mad,” Nellie confirmed. “Can I have a hug?”

Paren hesitated but eventually gave Nellie a hug.

“Are all nanite overlords as needy as you?” Paren asked, and they both started to giggle.

“So, what did you want to talk about?” Paren asked a few minutes later as they sat leaning against her shed.

“I worked out a deal with Duke,” Nellie said. “He is going to build some walls and stuff for us in exchange for parts and stuff.” She smiled. “You’ll never guess what he had beneath his farm.”

“What?” Paren asked.

“Another farm,” Nellie grinned.

“Is that all?” Paren cocked an eyebrow. “I think I could guess that.”

“Yeah, but guess what is beneath that?” Nellie asked.

“Another farm?” Paren deadpanned.

“Nope! A massive spaceship.” Nellie grinned as Paren’s eyes widened.

“Seriously?” Paren asked.

“Massive! Like the biggest I’ve ever seen.” Nellie confirmed.

“What for?” Paren asked. “Is it to take back the system?”

“Nah,” Nellie shook her head. “He called it a colony ship. He and others want to leave the sectors and push into unexplored space.”

“Wow!” Paren’s eyes sparkled. “I’ve always wondered what was out there.” She hesitated. “Any chance we could do that?”

“I’m thinking about it,” Nellie admitted. “Wouldn’t you miss the people here?”

“Would it matter?” Paren sighed. “I have to be gone, remember. I can’t exactly see them again, can I?” She looked up at the thick clouds of dust that passed for a sky these days. “At least out there, I could stop being worried people will kill me on sight.”

“We’ll see.” Nellie got up and dusted off her hands. “For right now, we just have to try not to get killed for long enough to escape.”

“We’ll still help people we find, right?” Paren asked.

“Of course,” Nellie smiled. “Hopefully, we find some cool stuff to take with us as well.”

When Nellie took off to head for the salvage fields this time, there was a sense of peace and expectation. Happiness, as well as Paren waved goodbye this time.

It had been praying on her mind even more than she knew.

Today, she was headed to one of the bigger fields. It would be her first time to visit this particular one.

Typically, she avoided the larger fields, where more attention was being paid to coming and going ships, but today, today, she needed something she couldn’t get anywhere else.

When she arrived, five large shuttles were already in position on the larger landing bays. They were all gleaming with fresh paint, and each one had at least one dedicated loader waiting on the lowered cargo ramps.

These were the big boys of salvage. Each one had at least one base in a large town or smaller city. No one from the Hub, of course. Those firms would hire this lot to do the work for them.

As her tatty-looking ship landed, more than one of the ground crew was pointing and sneering.

Let them, Nellie reminded herself; the more they laughed, the less attention they paid. If she had to stand out, let it be as a joke.

Not a threat they would feel a need to look into.

None of that helped when some smart alec called out, “Hey, isn’t that scrap supposed to be IN the salvage field?”

She resisted the urge to flip them off and just strode as confidently as she could toward the guard station.

A large, thin-looking Brackta with pale scales and greasy dark hair approached her and waved hopefully.

“Excuse me, Captain?” He asked, his deep voice carrying a sense of hopelessness. “I see you don’t have a loading crew. Is there any chance you want to hire me for the day?”

“What’s your rate?” Nellie asked, slowing as she approached him.

“Honestly, I’ll take what I can get,” He admitted. “Not a lot of work about these days.”

“Sure,” Nellie shrugged. “Want to give me a hand in the field or load?” She asked.

“Not allowed in there,” The man shrugged. “Sorry. I can load for you if you like?”

“Not allowed in, why?” Nellie asked.

“Same reason I can’t get a job anywhere else,” he said, his stance drooping as he spoke. “I was black-marked by the Feds for subversive tendencies. I’m no trouble, I promise. I just want to eat.”

“Subversive tendencies?” Nellie asked. “What kind?”

“No idea,” The man sighed. “They never said. Just took my house and told me to get out of the city.” He sighed. “Look, thanks for listening; sorry to bother you.” He went to walk away.

“Hey?” Nellie called out. “Aren’t you going to load for me?”

He turned back and smiled, “You don’t mind?” He asked.

“Beats doing it myself,” Nellie laughed. “Hey, while you wait, there is food and HyperDrive in the corner of the bay.”

“Thanks, really.” He smiled. “I won’t let you down.”

“Salvage license?” the Fed trooper asked, holding out his reader. Nellie thumbed it and waited while the trooper did the usual bashing it about.

“Those things ever work right?” Nellie asked.

“Not often,” The trooper sighed. “Name, purpose, and wanted materials?”

“Steptoe,” Nellie said with a smile. “I’m a salvager grabbing some extra materials to upgrade my shuttles.”

“That’s fine,” The trooper looked up and frowned, “Yikes, is it worth the effort?”

“She’s better than she looks,” Nellie said stiffly.

“If you say so,” The trooper laughed. “Hey, tell you what, I’ll even give you a ten percent increase in allowed electronics, but I reckon you’d be better off walking.” They grinned at their own joke.

“Thanks,” Nellie said between clenched teeth.

The trooper was chortling to himself as he waved her into the salvage field.

Despite the terrible jokes, that ten percent would come in handy.

Nellie made her way to the anti-grav sleds and picked one of the mid-sized ones.

Circling the area, she found what she was looking for in a large chunk of docking bay. It was too damaged to see what it had broken off from, but it had most of what she wanted.

Setting to work with her cutter Nellie settled into a comfortable rhythm of cutting the parts free, loading them onto the sled, and repeating. As her pile slowly grew, others began to gravitate to the wreckage, worried they were missing out.

More than one of them stared openly at the parts on her sled before shrugging and going back to their own work.

It was a good haul for her. Three complete sets of servos, a good amount of internal strut work, and several burnt and fried control nodes. They were mostly there for parts, as far as anyone knew, but Lucy could have them up and working in minutes.

She finished the collection by getting four pneumatic cylinders, two large and two small. She didn’t actually need them, but they fit with everything else she had collected.

Once they were all checked off by the troopers, she arrived back at her shuttle to find the man waiting for her, a pair of HyperDrive cans empty next to the ramp.

“Sorry,” She said, “I never got your name.”

“Karl-Oti,” He shook her hand. “I’ll get this all unloaded while you get more?”

“Thanks,” Nellie waved and left him to it.

A few hours later, Nellie was helping Karl-Oti with unloading the last load and getting to know him. He seemed a quiet type, but he worked hard despite evident malnutrition.

“Well, looks like you are good to go!” Karl said, wiping a bead of sweat off his cheek as he stood back. “I’ll take care of the sled; they will let me do that, at least.”

“Great, so do you have a pad so I can pay you?” Nellie asked.

“I thought the food was the payment?” He asked.

“I’m not that cheap,” Nellie laughed. “No matter what the ship looks like.

The man pulled a small pad from his back pocket. The screen was cracked and dented in places, but it worked.

“You prefer Federal credits?” Nellie asked. “Or the normal ones?”

“Federal is fine, thank you,” Karl said, smiling from ear to ear.

Nellie paid him a couple of hundred credits, and he balked.

“This is too much,” He said, trying to transfer some back, “It was only a few hours of work.”

“Call it a bonus,” Nellie said, “Do you have a place to stay or spend that?”

“With this?” Karl smiled. “I can get a few nights at the temporary shelter outside one of the cities, even a few meals, so thanks again.”

“It’s not much, but there is a small town where a good few refugees are staying. It has walls, at least, even if the Mayor is a bitch.” Nellie smiled to take the sting out of the last word. “Might be better than a shelter. Plus, I’ll know where to find you for more work.”

Karl thought it over for a while and then shrugged. “Sounds good, thanks.”

“Great, climb aboard, and I’ll have us there in no time.” Nellie smiled.  Sometimes, being nanite-powered was a lot of fun. Like being able to offer some huge guy a lift in the sure and certain knowledge that if he tried anything, she could twist his head off.