Slipspace

One of the uniformed officers stepped closer to my bed. His face was closely shaven and bore a very no-nonsense expression. “I am Inspector Garth. We’re here to take statements regarding the destruction of your ship, the independent vessel registered as Oxide-77.”

Inspector Garth reached back and roughly pulled the worker forward into my view properly. “Sixty seconds, as agreed, Mr Davis.”

The worker looked nearly as bad as me, emotionally if not physically. Guilt was written plainly on his face and I began really questioning the true nature of this meeting.

“I uh… Hi Soren. I'm Connor Davis, we’ve met a couple times around the Torgal docks. I fueled your ship a few days ago.” The memory of the technician outside the bubble of my cockpit came to mind and I hesitantly nodded.

Tears began welling up in his eyes when he continued. “It’s all my fault. I’m sorry.” The man couldn’t even make it through his sentences without having to take steadying breaths. “I’ve been doing little odd jobs on the side for Mr Kruger for years now. He pays me to do things that can’t be officially on the books.” A sob.

“He told me no one would ever get hurt! I swear! But then last week he gave me a pad and told me to plant a program on the Erickson ship. The boss wanted more time to negotiate. Then he told me to plant the same program on your ship… It was just supposed to shut down the core, like it did on the cargo ship! I didn’t know it would do… this…”

My emotions began flashing to very different extremes. At first, it was surprise, then it turned to fear when he mentioned my ship. “The power outage…”

He nodded miserably. “Yeah, that was me. Kruger knew that I wouldn’t be able to sneak in past your AI. As soon as I found out… Oh stars… I couldn’t hide it anymore. I fessed up this morning.”

My ship being destroyed hadn’t been an accident.

It was deliberate sabotage.

In that moment, no pain killer could have possibly been more effective than the sheer anger that boiled in my veins. All other feelings, all other emotions were swept away from the heat that flowed through me. I had always known that Kruger didn’t like not getting what he wanted. I had always known that he was a snake. But now I knew that his revenge had gone much farther than just firing me.

With great effort, knowing that the nurses might try to kill me for it, I struggled to sit up in bed. Nothing wanted to move correctly, but I didn’t care. My one ‘good’ arm reached out and grabbed the worker’s collar with all of the strength that I could muster, though it wasn’t much.

“You destroyed my ship, you bastard. I hope you rot in Hell, fucker.”

“Kruger made me do it! I swear! I have kids! I just wanted to give them a better life! I’m sorry!”

Even the adrenaline couldn’t sustain my forced movement for long and my hand soon dropped. Marcus gently forced me back down and helped reposition me to be comfortable. Meanwhile, Davis was dragged out of the room by the second officer.

“Units on the station have already arrested Harvey Kruger on charges of attempted premeditated second degree murder, destruction of property, and corporate sabotage along with a number of other charges.” Inspector Garth looked disgusted by the entire situation.

I looked to Marcus. “And that’s why you brought a lawyer.” He nodded silently.

With a curt nod at me, the lawyer stepped forward. “As the captain said, I am Beverly Yates. I represent Erickson Enterprises in legal matters. As your case is directly related to the charges of corporate sabotage against Mister Harvey Kruger and as you are additionally a pending asset of Erickson Enterprises as well, I will also be representing you, if that is acceptable.”

My eyes flickered to Marcus, who again nodded. I looked back at Yates. “I gratefully accept, Mr Yates. Thank you.”

Inspector Garth spoke up again. “Though I am quite certain that you do, I must ask if you would like to press further charges against the defendant in regards to your personal losses in this matter.”

Yates answered. “As representing counsel for Miss Matson, I state for the record that we will be pressing charges with all intent and in accordance to the absolute fullest extent of the law.”

What followed was two of the most painful hours of my life. Both the officer and the lawyer asked right about a bazillion questions (I counted). Everything from the moment I signed my contract with Torgal to the last time I saw him in the hangar before my fateful flight was thoroughly investigated and recorded. Twice during that time I had to request a nurse to come and give me another hit of the pain meds, but I managed to survive the questioning and the officer left.

Only Marcus and Yates were left in the room after that. The lawyer took a few more statements and then politely thanked me for my time and wished me a speedy recovery before walking out as well.

It was all an exhausting affair, but knowing what had actually happened gave me a modicum of strength back along with a whole lot of will. I didn’t care how badly mangled my body was. I was going to watch Kruger burn.

The captain stayed behind though, obviously wanting to talk with me privately. 

“I wanted to speak with you personally as well, Adresta," he began. "As I am sure you have realized, it is going to be quite difficult to employ you in your current state.”

The topic was expected, but still hurt to hear. “Yes sir, I understand.”

“Special accommodations could be made for you to pilot, but cargo handling is going to be just about impossible. Have no fear though, You won’t be like this for long, I promise. With Yates on the job, we will ruin that man and the entirety of Torgal if it comes down to it. I’m not giving up on you, Adresta.”

Even through the still present, although dulled, pain, I could feel the tears coming to my eyes. This man was everything I hadn’t had as a child and had only experienced once before with Captain Jay. It was heartstopping in a way.

“Thank you…” My voice was quiet and thick with emotion.

Marcus placed a gentle hand on my shoulder. “You still deserve a better life. Now more than ever. I don’t care that the ship is gone, I told you that you would work for Erickson Enterprises and that is still going to happen, one way or another, alright?”

As best I could, I nodded, tears still in my eyes.

The next four days were some of the hardest and painful of my life. My life had turned into an absolute rush of activity broken up by short periods of doctor mandated rest. Both Mr Yates and a pair of lawyers from Torgal were in and out of my hospital room consistently throughout the days.

Desperately trying to avoid risking court appearances, the Torgal lawyers were already beginning to discuss settlement amounts. Even the preliminary proposals were in the hundreds of thousands of credits. They rightfully claimed that it was the sole action of Kruger and not in any way at the behest of the greater Torgal company. And all of that was to say nothing of what I might be getting from Harvey Kruger personally.

As I had been warned, it was readily apparent that without extensive prosthesis, this body would never walk again. I was down one arm and a leg. Though it wasn’t entirely surprising, I did get to experience the reality of phantom limb syndrome. Sensations of things that were no longer there, echoes of remembered feelings. It was a lot to take in.

Most of my bandages were gone at this point, only a few remaining around the absolute worst of my injuries. Modern medicine could do much more good in significantly less time than had once been possible. I still continued to take numerous medications to ensure that there would be no infections and to continue to encourage my system to recover speedily.

Much to my disappointment, I did not get to watch as my former boss was arrested, nor did I get to witness his initial hearing. Due to my physical state, it was not exactly practical for me to attend, after all.

To my surprise, the lawyers and attorneys were not my only visitors, either. The Ericksons of course were around, but in the afternoon of the day that marked a full week in the hospital, I got a personal visit from an individual I never would have expected.

It was an older gentleman that came in. Despite the obvious signs of age, it was easy to see that the years had not dulled the steel in his spirit.

“Soren Matson, I presume?”

“Formerly known as, yes. It’s Adresta Matson now.”

That got me a slight look, but the man continued unabated.

“Apologies then. I am Lucean Xander Torgal; I would assume that you understand who I am?”

My eyes widened. “The fifth generation head of the Torgal Corporation."

Old money didn't even begin to describe the well dressed man in front of me. Torgal had come into being most of two centuries before as a simple asteroid prospecting start-up. After some initial successes, the first Torgal head had expanded the portfolio until they became some of the early builders for the first large-scale expansion of the slipspace gate network. The blooming mega-corporation had grown by leaps and bounds ever since, now controlling large swaths of the market and among the largest and most powerful non-government entities in the known galaxy.  

"To what do I owe the pleasure, Sir?”

The man’s eyes were a strange mixture of frustration and anger as he responded. 

“There has been much talk of your situation in the upper echelons the last several days as I am sure you can imagine. If the behavior of the former head of the Telemachus branch of my company specifically towards you was not enough, I have had to investigate the state of the rest of the branch and am highly disappointed in what was found. Public relations officers under our banner have been working day and night to keep news outlets across the Terran Union from completely shredding my company.”

I could only listen to him, too stunned by his presence to really say anything. I had no love for the Torgal company, but for the head himself to show up and admit to the issues was a big deal, almost unheard of, in fact.

“I would like to state that Mister Kruger was acting on his own, despite whatever delusions he may have had about furthering company interests. In the interest of assisting you in your delicate state, I would like to personally offer to cover the cost of whatever means of recovery you would like, be that prosthetics, biotic implants, or other means. All I ask in return is that you avoid saying anything defamatory towards the company should any reporters ask.”

There was no doubt in my mind that this was nothing more than a boldfaced move to try to salvage the company’s reputation in the eyes of the media, but I wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. I also was well aware that this was one of the richest people in the galaxy and anything he gave me would be pocket lint compared to his vast wealth. Might as well take advantage of it.

With a bit of confidence that felt rather strained, I looked at one of the most powerful men in human society and made my case.

“Well sir,” I started. “I’m aware of the continuity of consciousness mind transfer and bioengineered transference vessels that the Celeste Institute offers. I think that’s the option I would go with.”

He winced, but nodded. It was obvious that he was surprised by my choice of options. While the institute was well known in the trans community and among the rich, it wasn’t as well known by the general populace. It was simply too new of a technology that was too far out of the reach of most, and they were the only ones that had it.

“Very well. If that is your wish. As the proper trial for Mister Kruger will not be happening for another month or so, will you be seeking to receive this treatment immediately?”

I nodded enthusiastically. “Absolutely. There are already plenty of records that show my injuries if they need evidence. If I can get it done before the trial, there’s no reason for me not to do it!”

“As you wish then, Miss Matson. I will have my secretary forward the details for the payment.”

Though I did not allow myself to vocalize it, I internally was shouting for joy. I was getting my dream! It was being given to me and I certainly had feelings about being given things in life, but in this case, I felt I deserved it.

If the Torgal Co had been unaware of what was going on in Telemachus, they were negligent at best. In the more likely case that they were aware of it, but did nothing about the conditions, it meant that as long as the profits came in, they were willing to let things stay as is. They would never have stepped in without a significant disruption that forced their hand. A disruption like the manager being caught in attempted murder and sabotage.

These people didn’t really care about the lesser beings they employed, only the appearance of caring.

Perhaps it was wrong of me to allow that system to perpetuate. Perhaps I should have been taking a stand against the system that had nearly killed me. But I was just one person. Stepping onto the soapbox would only risk losing even more.

No use overthinking it now, though.