Just another hunter, like a wolf in the sun
Just another junkie on a scoring run
Just another victim of the things he has done
Just another day ace up...in the life of a loaded gun

The odds get even
You name the game
The odds get even
The stakes are the same
You bet your life...
-Rush

?You are late.? Konane?s white hair held a buttery sheen from the lamplight. She did not look upset or disappointed. Her hands were relaxed on the tabletop of the old dockside tavern.

The room was crowded, but held patrons of a different make than those of the Red Dragon Inn where she had just left. Lirssa realized how much more comfortable she was at the tavern, the Oarsman, than when she had been at the inn. It had been all shadowed and grim with slices of affection twisted in games.

She really needed a flight. This being at home for too long was going make her far too bitter. Realizing this, she did not spit out the first thing that came to mind in response. Taking the seat opposite the old mercenary, or rather, her possible grandmother, Lirssa said, ?I am. I apologize.?

Konane folded her arms as she sat back. As before, she wore overworked leathers and the armor of her trade. It clinked and creaked with her movements. ?What is wrong? No witty return??

?I?d say I?m getting old, but considering my company?? Restraint only ever lasted so long with Lirssa.

?Ah, there it is. That is better.? Konane returned her arms resting on the table. ?I was surprised to hear from you.?

Lirssa grimaced. No doubt it had been surprising. Flipping a table and taking to her heels after the meeting with her possible father had not likely left the impression she would be joining them for dinners and family celebrations. Her mind had a hiccup and wondered if there were family celebrations. A shake of her head, she refocused and said, ?I need something. You have it.?

?I do? Your father would have more answers.?

?He is, as he has said himself, not a nice man.? Lirssa could not contain the question. ?How did you have him for a son? I mean, I suppose you aren?t exactly Joan or Rigieli, but I?ve heard lots of your dealings around this town.?

Konane smirked, then chuckled, then laughed so loudly a few heads turned to her. She gave them crude gestures and nodded for them to turn back to their drinks and company. ?It is not a complicated answer in one sense. In another, very complicated. He is my son, but his nature is his father?s and influenced by a gift that I do not share and could not help guide.?

It was then that Lirssa realized the truth. ?You arranged his meeting me because you wanted it, not him.?

?Yes,? Konane admitted.

?You wanted someone who could understand this?thing.? Lirssa added hastily, ?I?m not fond of calling it a gift. Seems it causes more trouble than it?s worth.?

Konane studied her. The lined lips shrank into a tight pucker and then slid sideways. That was a familiar gesture. Lirssa often twisted her mouth sideways when she was thinking. Konane looked nothing like her, though. If she had an easier life, Lirssa imagined Konane would have been a very elegant and alluring woman, perhaps in some manner like Miss Eless.

Konane drew up her tankard and sipped then said, ?Yet you have not gotten rid of it.?

Lirssa squirmed in her seat. She shrugged and let her head wobble a little. ?I know. I suppose I did not want to do something I would later regret if I ever learned that it could do someone some good.?

?Has it done no one good??

Taking a deep breath, Lirssa then sighed and nodded. ?A few times. A few times I could help others. Most times, though, I?ve been manipulated, captured, or tortured to try and use it or study it. And that would not be so bad if that happening didn?t also hurt the people who cared for me.?

Konane snickered and shook her head. ?Caring for someone does not come with caveats??

?Or addendums.? Lirssa interrupted.

?That, too. So, now perhaps you understand how Olen can be my son, how I can care about him though I do not like the things he has chosen to do. I keep trying to guide him to other paths, but this place?? She looked around her.

?We aren?t from here??

Konane smiled. Lirssa knew why. She had said ?we? and not ?you?. ?I am from here. Your father is from here. His father is not.?

?Is??

?Yes, that one is still alive. Again,? one of her hands, all swollen knuckles and abused, waved as if a fly flew about her, ?this place. Hard to die here.?

Lirssa nodded. There was no denying that. ?So?? It was getting late and time to get to the point of it all.

?Yes, you want something I have.?

With another nod, Lirssa took in a deep breath to stay it all at a time. She had practiced what she wanted to say, but the worlds were beginning to jumble up in her mind. ?I need to be sure that he is my father.?

?He is.?

Lirssa ignored her and continued. ?So, I need some of his blood. I?m not keen on getting it myself, and I?d rather not have anything to do with him if possible.?

The old woman scratched at her left palm, the white lines of scars and old wounds brightening with the attention. ?I can do so, but in exchange for something I want.?

It was the way of things. The code. Lirssa could not deny it if she wanted the sample. Konane knew her ways too well. ?What is it??

?Time. I want you, your father, and me to spend some time. You will meet us once each week when you aren't flying about in those contraptions you call ships, and you will learn.?

?And maybe he will, too?? Lirssa suggested the ulterior motive. ?He does not want to be a father.?

?I think he fears you more than anything he has ever seen.?

Lirssa trembled, her shoulders shrank down and she felt her heart ache. ?Am I that dangerous?? she whispered.

A warm, splotched hand rested on her arm. ?It is not that. He fears the reality you represent.?

?What is that??

?That he could have been a better man.?

Lirssa took a deep breath to keep her voice from trembling. "We're nearly through." She could see the edge of the debris field, and her scrambling sensors confirmed what she saw. Two ships were waiting just at the edge of the field.

"Calico 788," a voice scratched through the static of an earpiece overloaded by sensor mayhem, "Omnigreen sent us out to assist once you clear the field."

"Great," Lirssa grit through teeth clenched in pain. Her little ship was not upgraded well enough to survive multiple blunt strikes. The last one had sent the shield into overdrive, shorting several circuits. Sparks and embers from overheated processors and sensors landed on her hands and arms. She had used her left hand to protect her face, so it had suffered only a few burns. The right, closest to the still glinting and sparking panel, had taken the worst. Her flight gear protected her arms, legs, and chest from the burns. She could feel the sharp stab of burns along her neck and backs of her hands. Pen sized bubbles of flesh formed on her hands, and Lirssa imagined much the same was on her neck. Her grip on the helm kept her senses bobbing on an undulating wave of pain.

It could have been worse, Lirssa reminded herself.

"We can't come in." The voice continued, "And we can't blast--"

"--I know, I know. Take it down a notch, pilot. I'm not a damsel in distress." Then in a mutter, she added. "Yet."

"Captain Avery." The pilot supplied.

"Right, Captain Avery. Instead of jabbering at what you obviously can't do without jeopardizing your own crew or further complicating life for me and my passengers, why don't you tell me how a debris field appeared here without charts?" Lirssa swerved around a spinning slat of metal and was finally clear.

"Bad exchange between two further field ships. Seems they found this particular patch of stellar ground useful for their disagreement."

Lirssa smiled. "My luck."

"Want towing?"

She really wanted to accept, but she also slowly realized she could not let go of the helm without aggravating the bubbled flesh of her hands. "Next time, but thank you. An escort would be fine though, and," Lirssa looked over the control panel. "You might want to keep a stasis beam at the ready. I think all the sensors for docking will be working, but better keep the net ready in case they aren't." And it was going to hurt flipping those sensors, too.

"You sure about the towing? Maybe I can get Omnigreen to patch into your controls for me. Override the helm. I'd need your codes."

"I'm not fond of the idea of taking my hands off the helm, but I think you are right. The only sure way of this happening right is for another to bring her in." Lirssa hated to admit it, but she had passengers and their safety to think about. Ego was going to have to pout in a corner for a moment.

"Right."

Lirssa gave over the codes, and after a few minutes she felt the helm responding to commands that she was not giving it. Captain Avery spoke through the comm link again. "Docking you at bay eighteen. Any injuries?"

Repeating the question to her passengers, the response was a general murmur to the negative. "Only mine and my ship."

"We will see you taken care of."

Lirssa noticed he said nothing of her ship. Her heart sunk. She was going to miss duels that night. In fact, she might miss more than that. It was a discouraging thought.

The docking was smooth and easy. Once the ship was secure, the outer doors disengaged.

Turning to her passengers, Lirssa gave her best combination apology and everything-is-fine smile. "It is safe to disembark. Apologies for the rough trip."

Most of the passengers gave wan smiles or true smiles of thanks. A few even spoke, and one elderly man asked, "You okay, miss?"

"I will be. Thank you. Best to you."

He nodded and moved on. Once the ship was clear of passengers, a lone figure walked onto the ship. A helmet under his arm. He was not overly tall and quite spare in his build. The dark brown hair was kept neat without being militaristically short, though his uniform was all snap-to and yes-sir. Lirssa ventured a guess. "Captain Avery?"

"Lulu."

"Seriously? Even here?" She almost cast her hands up in the air, but there was a bold burst of pain in reminder, and she winced.

Captain Avery came over to look at her hands. "Yes, you are right. That is going to hurt."

"Thanks."