Scrapper. Book 2. Book 2

He slowly released her and met her terrified gaze, stepping back. Another bullet hit his shoulder and he glanced back, seeing the shooter. Immediately turning, he ran to the guy, while he was frantically reloading, and jumped onto him, slamming his metal fist into his head so hard that the skull exploded in a splash of red and grey.

Hunter looked up, but there was no sign of Falana and her men anymore. Wolfin and Lindon, though they have taken care of the few other shooters, were now trying to find at least one track left on the hard asphalt below their feet.

Serena stayed standing, still frozen in shock after coming face to face with Hunter, and her thoughts were scrambled. It took her some time to push down the fear she felt and shake off the remnants of her rage that made her act so irrational.

«We lost her.» Wolfin returned to the woman with an angry expression.

Before she could even realise what she had done, her mentor grabbed her by the arm and dragged her back to the ship to get away from prying eyes that might have been left there by Falana to watch over their crew.

Serena walked, understanding how badly things turned out – only because of her – and kept silent.

When Wolfin dragged her into the cargo bay and rudely pushed her further in, she almost tripped. She turned to him, seeing his eyes flashing with anger.

Wolfin gritted his teeth and approached Serena, furious at her.

«We were supposed to follow her to her hideout to eradicate her!» he screamed.

Serena felt her teeth gritting:

«I’m sorry…» she knew she was at fault, falling prey to the rage that caught her in its grasp when she saw Falana’s face.

Her mentor slapped her so hard that she fell to the floor.

Hunter flinched and heard Lindon raising the gun to his head. The cyborg glanced to the Veluthian and stepped back.

«You’re supposed to be calm and collected, Serena!» Wolfin growled. «You should keep your head cool!»

Hunter saw Serena slowly sit up, looking at the floor and grasping at her jaw.

«I’m…» her voice failed her.

«Damn it, Serena! I raised you better than that!» Wolfin scowled and turned on his heels, leaving. «Get your head together!»

Hunter wanted to step forward to help the woman up, but glanced to Lindon, who slowly lowered his gun, frowning at the cyborg. The Veluthian nodded aside, and Hunter sighed, walking off and leaving him alone with Serena.

Lindon made sure the cyborg left before he holstered his gun and kneeled to Serena.

«I’m sorry…» the woman exhaled shakily, a stray tear running down her cheek.

The man offered her his hand and she raised her eyes to him.

«I know what you were thinking.» Lindon said, helping her up to her feet.

«I wasn’t.» Serena shook her head, feeling guilty for letting Falana get away.

The Veluthian sighed and embraced her, caressing her hair:

«We’ll get her.» he kissed her temple.

Even though they let her slip away again, they at least got a couple of her men – that made Lindon feel a bit better. But the way Serena jolted off while they weren’t supposed to engage felt like all that the woman could think about was getting Falana in her grasp.

«I’m sorry.» Serena apologized again, leaning back.

Lindon hesitantly freed her from his embrace and saw how pained her eyes were.

«Its fine.» he said, caressing her face. «Wolfin will calm down.»

Serena shook her head and looked away:

«I fucked up. I have to…» she gritted her teeth, pushing down a wave of tears that almost burst from her eyes. «I have to go, Lindon. I have a lot to think about.»

She didn’t even give him a moment to respond, walking off and leaving him there all on his own. Feeling nervous for the woman being so distraught, Lindon sighed, deciding on giving her some time to get her thoughts together.

He still had a few words he would like to say to Wolfin, who hit Serena for what she had done. Heading towards the bridge, Lindon tried his best to find the right words for the past mentor he held in high regard.

Serena, on the other hand, visited the medical bay, grabbing a couple of sedative capsules to keep herself calmer next time, and headed back to her quarters.

In the corridor she suddenly saw Hunter walking slowly towards the engineering bay and pressed herself to the wall, still feeling the shudder of shock and fear washing over. The cyborg saw this and looked away, stepping closer to the opposite wall and hurried past, so that his proximity won’t be too stressful for the woman.

«Hunter, stop…» he heard her say, her frail and shaky voice sounding behind him when they passed each other.

He froze, too afraid to make a move, and wished only for one thing – to hear her approaching. But a few long moments passed, and he heard no movement from her.

«I know I’m hard to look at.» the man said, slouching. «I know I’m a… monster.»

«Thank you.» he heard her say, making him straighten up a little in shock. «For saving me back there.»

He felt his heart beating faster and slowly turned to look at her, but saw her pulling herself away from the wall and hurrying away, almost stumbling, as if she wanted to make a run for it.

Hunter turned back to where he was heading, and took a very deep breath. Even such a small step from her was enough for the time being.

Walking into Laneth’s domain, he wondered if things will ever be the same between him and Serena.

Chapter 13. Oath

Laneth glanced up and noticed Hunter walking in – head hung and his eyes filled with the same sadness that she saw every time she looked at him lately.

«You’re back so quick…» she said.

The cyborg walked past her and Kayla, who was sitting on the table with something in her hands, and approached the corner he made his quarters. Sitting down onto the simple sleeping roll he had, he remained silent.

Kayla and Laneth exchanged glances and set aside whatever they were doing. Approaching Hunter, they saw him gritting his teeth.

«What happened?» Kayla kneeled down next to the man, catching his gaze.

«We failed.» he replied, squeezing his fists. «Serena… she…»

Laneth kneeled as well, frowning:

«What?»

«She saw Falana and ran off. We had to chase her down.» Hunter shook his head. «Falana escaped, but left a couple of thugs behind.»

«And…?»

«I’m faster than others. I caught up with Serena as one of those men shot at her.» Hunter sighed. «I shielded her from the bullets, but…»

Kayla saw him grimace and reached out, touching his metal hand with her palm:

«But what?»

Hunter leaned back, looking up, but it didn’t help his eyes from tearing up:

«When Serena saw me in front of her, she… was terrified of me.» he closed his eyes. «I can’t help but think she will never see me as something else than… this…»

He hit himself in the metal plating on his chest, making Kayla flinch.

The girl stood up and stepped closer, landing a slap to his head:

«You idiot!» she said. «Things like this take time!»

Laneth took a very deep breath, before saying:

«She’s right. You might have terrified her, but I don’t think she didn’t notice that you saved her from the shots…»

«She noticed. But it doesn’t change the fact that she fears me.»

A heavy silence hung between them for a few long moments.

«Might I make a suggestion, Hunter?» Lyssa said suddenly.

«I’m out of ideas, so go ahead.» Hunter sighed, grabbing a bottle of alcohol that stood by his bed and having a large sip.

«Veluthians value oaths. If you think you can offer Serena an oath you can keep… she might be open to the possibility of accepting it. This could help her feel safer around you.»

Hunter looked at Laneth, then glanced at Kayla and thought, that, perhaps, the ships AI was right.

«I think Serena would listen…» the girl said. «Only… maybe you should choose your words carefully?»

«And what would you advise me to say?» Hunter asked Kayla.

The girl fell deep in thought for a few moments and then tilted her head:

«Maybe… start with admitting how badly you hurt her? And that you don’t wish to do that ever again?»

«I mean… it’s a good start.» Laneth shrugged. «Let me get my information tablet and let’s put our heads together… maybe we can come up with something that would be good enough to present to our Captain?»

Hunter sighed, forcing out a short nod, accepting their help.

He didn’t know if this idea would even work, but he was already becoming even more desperate than before. He was accepting the harsh reality of being the crew’s exile for the rest of his life, and questioning if he should even stay on board, if there wasn’t anything he could really do to motivate Serena to even look him in the eyes.

Serena, on the other hand, wasn’t only stressed out by the matter of Hunter being a cyborg and making her feel terrified every time he was near, but also by the fact that she no longer felt in control of her own rage. The rookie mistake that she made during their investigation on Kanartha wasn’t something she did for a very long time.

Feeling guilty for making Falana escape their grasp again, she was glad to find out that Falana hired not only some men, but also a pirate crew on their space ship – this meant MSS Lyssandra could fall on their trail and follow the pirates to see if they would reconvene with Falana.

Wolfin was still angry at the woman, and she couldn’t help but wish to make it up to him, although she didn’t know how – when she was a kid it was easier, but now as an adult she knew that he was harder on her only because he cared about getting Falana – just as she did, if not greater, since Falana had wronged Serena so much.

«I am sorry, Wolfin.» Serena lowered her gaze, when she approached her mentor. «You’re right. I shouldn’t have allowed my rage take over.»

«You knew all this ever since childhood. Why did you forget the basics now?» Wolfin growled, crossing his arms on his chest.

Serena felt herself slouching:

«I’m… I’m sorry.» her eyes filled with tears. «I didn’t think… I just…»

She fell silent, fighting with the tears that were about to burst through in full force. Wolfin watched her standing there and realised that he was a little too harsh on her – after all, the woman suffered greatly at the hands of Falana. With a heavy sigh, Wolfin stepped up and embraced Serena.

«I know you’re better than that, Scorpi.» he said to her. «Don’t allow Falana get under your skin. I don’t want her using this against you. Do you understand me?»

Serena forced herself to nod, incapable of replying in words.

Wolfin glanced at Lindon:

«How about a drink? Lyssa can take over for a bit, and we really need to take a breather and discuss how not to make the same mistake…»

«If I will find any traces of Falana’s space ship, I will let you know at once.» Lyssa said.

Lindon stood up from his place and silently headed out.

Serena felt Wolfin grabbing her shoulders and leaning back, and forced herself to look up at him, seeing his features softer than a minute ago.

«A drink… a scolding I deserve…» Serena whispered to her mentor, wiping the few stray tears from her face. «An advice…»

The man nodded to her, pushing her towards the exit without a single word. Almost the whole way to the dining area they remained silent, but when they approached the table, where Lindon already sat with a couple of bottles and glasses, Serena froze by one of the chairs, as if hesitating to sit down.

«Wolfin?» she asked her mentor. «Were you as unreasonable with the one who killed your family?»

The man pressed his lips together and sat down, averting his eyes, so that neither his ward, nor Lindon see how much her words struck a chord.

«I wasn’t, Scorpi.» Wolfin replied a few long moments later. «Because I never found their killer.»

«But…» Serena flinched, suddenly remembering something. «You didn’t go after him?»

«I did. I found one of his mates after I ran from Velutha.» Wolfin grimaced. «He said he was on Tornir. But I searched the whole planet. He wasn’t there.»

The woman slowly sat down, feeling a strange nervousness taking over her:

«Tornir… people often mistake it for…» she glanced at Wolfin. «Thorna Dirr.»

The Veluthian frowned and met her gaze:

«I was misled?»

«Probably.» Serena noticed Lindon pouring her a drink and moving the glass closer to her. «Summers always bragged about the fact that few people actually discern the two places, even though they’re located far from each other.»

She fell into thought and realised why the face she saw in Wolfin’s memories long ago seemed to make her uncomfortable. She knew the man.

«Scorpi…» Wolfin’s voice sounded tense and wary. «What are you not telling?»

«I think… I…» Serena looked away. «I remembered the man from your memory extraction. Last time I couldn’t place my finger on it, but… I think I’ve seen him.»

Wolfin slowly placed the glass back on the table, even though he just picked it up to take a sip of alcohol:

«Where?» he asked quietly.

«Summers used a contact on Thorna Dirr. I never met the man face to face, but I remember watching them meet on the screens. He looks just like the man that left your apartment after your family was killed.» the woman sighed. «I could take you there.»

Wolfin looked down, thinking over her proposition.

Serena suddenly heard the hard footsteps she learned to recognise as Hunter’s and tensed up. However hard she tried, the cyborg still made her shudder every time she saw him. The woman turned to the entrance of the dining area and saw him walking in – his eyes affixed to the floor, and his posture collected.

He walked up, making her instinctively lean away, and kneeled, still looking at the floor.

«Captain Serena Dal Thara-Lyss.» he said. «I know how much I have wronged you. I know how much fear I installed in your heart towards me for the things that I’ve done. But I give you my word that I did so unwillingly. Veluthians hold high regard for oaths and promises. So I wish to give you an oath of honour. I give you my word that I will never cause harm to you willingly and knowingly. I will do everything in my power to protect you and love you until my dying breath.»

A heavy silence hung in the air, but Hunter didn’t move or say anything else, waiting patiently for any sort of reply. He was ready to receive nothing, and was willing to stay there – kneeling – until Serena and the others would walk away. He knew how hard it would be for the woman and didn’t expect for her to be open to such an oath, however genuine and true it was to him.

He closed his eyes – not to let tears appear – and waited, until he heard Serena move ever so slightly.

«I accept your oath.» her voice sounded extremely faint and shaken. «Now, go…»

He slowly stood, too afraid to look at her, and when he opened his eyes, he saw her hand reaching out – cautiously and trembling. A moment passed and she pulled it away, unable to touch him.

«I will be loyal to you, Serena. In all matters.» Hunter said, taking a slow step back.

He then turned and walked away, feeling a crushing sensation in his chest.

Chapter 14. Despair

Hunter returned to his corner in the engineering bay and couldn’t hold back his tears, pressing his forehead to the wall in a pitiful attempt to stop crying. He did what he wanted, and yet the result hit him harder than he thought it would. Though, he did receive a reply from Serena, the way she recoiled from him and couldn’t even touch him was way too much for him to bear.

«So…» Laneth cautiously approached the man. «How did it go? By your looks, not so well?»

The man took a bit of time to calm his breath and shove down the tears before slowly turning to the mechanic:

«She accepted my oath.»

Laneth brightened with a wide smile:

«That’s great news!» she watched his pained face and her smile faded. «Wait… so why are you crying then?»

«She reached out, but couldn’t make herself touch me.» Hunter shook his head, closing his face with the cold metal palm.

«Hey, hey, look at me.» Laneth stepped up and grabbed his wrist, pulling it down, which was an impossible task to do.

He lowered his hand and met her gaze.

«She won’t even touch me… how can I ever even…» he looked away, falling silent.

«It’s a step, alright?» Laneth smiled. «Remember what I said? Baby steps. Don’t rush on. You’ve caused her trauma you have to fix. It takes time. The fact she accepted your oath means she’s making a step towards believing you again.»

«I don’t think I will ever bring her something other than fear.»

«Don’t say that! I mean… you do remember how fearless she is, right?»

Hunter shook his head again:

«Not this time, Laneth. This time it’s different. I understand how hard it hit her… me being the one who almost killed her. Twice! How can she ever see me other than the mindless piece of scrap that did that?»

Laneth sighed and tilted her head:

«You saved her, being this scrap, remember? And she thanked you for it. Doesn’t that account for something?»

They heard the door sliding open and turned to look who came to their part of the ship, only to see Lindon and Wolfin walking inside. Both men seemed unimpressed by Hunter’s stunt in the dining area, and for a moment Laneth thought that she would need to mitigate between the trio to de-escalate whatever was brewing.

However, as the two approached them, Lindon and Wolfin met Hunters gaze with a deep breath.

«The oath you gave… you really meant it?» Wolfin asked.

For the first time in days his voice didn’t sound harsh and uncompromising.

«With all my heart…» Hunter said truthfully.

«Then we will hold you true to your word.» Lindon grimaced. «But if you ever hurt Serena again, I will make sure to cut you into pieces and throw you into the nearest black hole.»

Hunter lowered his eyes, feeling guilt for having become the outcast of the whole crew, and suddenly saw Lindon extending him an arm for a handshake. Surprised, the man looked up at the Veluthian and saw his eyes filled with a dark promise to protect the woman he really loved.

Slowly and cautiously, Hunter answered this gesture, making sure his strong metal limbs didn’t injure Lindon. As they let go, Wolfin too offered his hand to the cyborg.

«Don’t forget the oath you’ve given.» Wolfin said. «Or we will go through with our threats.»

As they were about to turn and walk away, Hunter gathered the courage to ask something that was bothering him all the passing days:

«Lindon?»

«What?» the Veluthian seemed to be still tense around him.

«I hope… I…» the man lost all his thoughts in a blink of an eye. «I hope you comfort her.»

«If only she would have come to me for comfort.» Lindon retorted. «No matter how badly I want to help her in any way I can, she locks herself up in her quarters to cry every night. According to Lyssa she barely sleeps at all. And that’s on you, you metal jerk. When we thought you died, she never asked me for comfort. And after you almost killed her she too… never came around. For better or worse, I think she still holds some semblance of love for you in her heart. But the fact that looking at you she sees the very same… cyborg who almost killed her…»

Hunter pressed his lips together, feeling even worse than before.

«Don’t expect her to open up quickly, is what he’s trying to say.» Wolfin said. «You’ve hurt her too much. If things like these can ever heal, it will take a lot of time and effort to do so.»

The two Veluthians turned and left, while Hunter slouched even harder, feeling the guilt weighing his shoulders down. As soon as the door closed behind Lindon and Wolfin, Laneth stepped up and pressed her palm against Hunter’s chest.

«Listen, I know this might be a bad time, but…» she sighed. «I think I have something I can do to help you be seen for the man that you were, and not a…»

«Metal jerk?» Hunter swallowed a heavy lump.

«In a manner of speaking. Though, to make sure this would work… I need to run some tests on you.» Laneth caught his eyes. «Do you think you would be willing to become my test subject for a bit?»

Hunter felt a strange memory surfacing at these words and frowned, looking away.

«Hunter?» Laneth called out, seeing him becoming distant.

«Do you think…» he exhaled. «Do you think you could… maybe try and see if there’s something in my memories? About the time when I was… a mindless piece of junk?»

«I mean… if the circuits in that head of yours are connected… I don’t see why not. Otherwise we’d have to ask Lyssa if we have access to a memory extraction in the medical pod.»

«I can authorise a memory extraction at any time.» the AI responded. «With your enhancements, you should be out of danger that is usual for humans in this procedure.»

«Thank you.» Hunter exhaled. «Both of you…»

Chapter 15. Progress

Even though they allowed SS Growler to fall back, so that the pirates won’t see them, Serena and her crew updated Cipher almost every day. But, however long the trip was taking, they still hadn’t found a single trace of Falana’s ship.

Keeping herself busy, Serena took Wolfin’s advice on taking up meditation again – something she hadn’t done in a long time. This allowed her to gradually grow calmer and less reliant on the sedatives she took to keep her nerves in check.

Lindon was glad seeing her shed the anxious demeanour and become more and more collected. He missed this side of her, and even joined her from time to time, making sure he wasn’t forcing his company on her.

But she seemed to be more open to having someone near, and this gave him hope that she was somewhat healing from all the trouble she went through.

Though, he still knew how hard it was for her to face Hunter. Perhaps, she no longer tensed up as strongly as before, but she still kept her distance from the cyborg. And Hunter tried hard not to appear before her eyes without reason, and this allowed Lindon to hope he was doing so for Serena’s sake, and not his own.

While keeping themselves on the pirate’s tail, Serena kept asking for Lindon to take command of the ship, as she couldn’t trust her own reasoning for the time being. The Veluthian agreed, but noted that she still was the Captain of MSS Lyssandra, which meant that he would check with her every time they needed to make a decision anyway.

Having no problem with that, Serena spent most of the time either in the training bay or her quarters – either meditating, or training to keep herself as busy as she could. She also got to the schematics Laneth wanted for her to see for a long time. Mostly, though, Serena caught Laneth when she would come to the dining area to discuss the many different projects the mechanic had.

However, this day Serena decided to finally visit Laneth in the engineering bay to discuss something. Walking through the ship with an information tablet in her hands and looking at some of the most promising designs Laneth sent her, Serena wasn’t really thinking about anything, except the things her mechanic wanted to make.

Serena walked into the engineering bay, looking up, and almost dropped the information tablet, freezing mid-step and seeing Hunter. He was sitting in a metal seat, strapped up by his arms and legs, while Laneth was working on him, doing something with the circuits in his neck.

The cyborg, noticing Serena standing by the doors, immediately noticed the fear-filled eyes Serena couldn’t take off him.

«Laneth…» Hunter’s voice sounded quiet and awkward.

The woman mechanic glanced at the door and straightened, stopping whatever she was doing.

«Serena! So good to see you!» she welcomed the Captain to her domain.

Serena’s hands visibly trembled, and Hunter looked down, understanding he was the reason for that. For a few long moments a heavy silence fell upon the bay, but then Serena took a careful step forward, clasping the tablet onto her belt.

«Is he secure?» the Captain asked, trying to sound confident, but Hunter heard her voice shaking.

«Yes…» Laneth stepped closer and nodded. «He’s quite secure.»

Hunter heard footsteps approaching and when he looked up, he saw Serena stepping up and punching him in the face. However hard this punch was, he barely felt it, as he understood how much he really deserved it. Feeling the irony taste of blood in his mouth, he looked at her again, and received another punch.