→ [Fic] Black Ice 7.0
Black Ice
-7-
“W-what? Why do you want to go out there?? Nobody scouts that area and when I say nobody, I really mean it! Nobody, Ashe!”
Vin was worked up again. It wasn’t exactly out of the ordinary for him. Sometimes it got a hair annoying, though. He was one of the good guys and at the end of the day that was all that mattered.
“I’ve got something to investigate out there. It’s not an extended trip and I’d rather go there than Kras,” she told him.
“The Baron’s sending you guys to Kras now?” his eyes widened in surprise.
She was just a captain. Ashelin didn’t know what her father had the other soldiers doing. She assumed he wanted them in the city almost constantly on patrol. They were established to ensure his leadership went as smoothly as possible. That likely meant there wasn’t a damn one in Kras unless they had managed to run out of Haven and take refuge. Razer had said it was like a shelter, hadn’t he?
Ugh. Razer.
“It’s not like that, Vin. This is personal research. I’m looking for someone in Aeropa.”
“A-Aeropa?”
“Yeah. You familiar with it?” She sounded hopeful.
He shook his head, “Nope. Not me. Well, I mean the name sounds familiar, but I’ve never been there myself. I’d look it up, but that doesn’t seem smart. The Baron’s upping his surveillance. He would be onto us. If he opens that stone-”
“I know,” she replied. “I already know. Let’s not discuss it. So you can’t help with this Aeropa thing. That’s fine.” She withdrew her communications device, “Think the reception on this is good?”
Vin eyed her closely, “Well, sure, if you’re in the city. It’s probably fine in the outskirts too, like a bit of the desert. If this place is over the ocean though, don’t think it’ll go that far.”
“Yeah. I thought that might be the case. I’ll be able to keep in contact with you for a little before it goes out.”
“You going on your own? Shouldn’t you take someone with you?”
Yeah. Perhaps she should have, but the idea of explaining to that companion why they were going to the Brink was less than desirable. There was always the possibility that something could go wrong, however.
“I’ll be fine,” Ashelin reassured him with a confident look.
“He’s not going to like it, y-you know.”
That was probably true. If they had been back on the ship, she would have been more reluctant to keep this from him. Torn didn’t remember a damn thing, which kept their relationship on that professional level. That wasn’t the easiest thing for her to accept. Honestly, every time she saw his face, all she could think about was the time he fucked her hard against the mattress of his bed. The bathroom incident didn’t help either.
“Here… or the bed?”
She scoffed a little, “He’s always pissed about something.”
Damned if I do, damned if I don’t. That’s just great.
Vin didn’t know about her inner monologue, though. “That’s it?”
“It’s a personal matter. He doesn’t need to be involved. And if that’s not good enough, he can talk to Tess.”
“W-well… If you say so,” he scrambled back and forth between the different consoles for the mainframe computer. “When are you leaving, Ashelin?”
“The sooner the better. It’d be a bad idea to put it off. The sooner my investigation is over, the better. I’ll be able to concentrate on what’s going on in Haven.”
At the exit, she lifted her communications device again, “I might ask for some help, so be prepared to give it.”
“R-right! Whatever you say!”
-☼-
What did she really know about the Brink? She knew she’d have to cross the desert and the ocean to get to it. Beyond the end of the ocean, she had no idea how much further she would need to go. If she wanted any hope of a good journey, she needed enough fuel to get there. Something about going down over the ocean didn’t sit well with her, especially if that was too far out of Vin’s range.
Phoenix hadn’t said much about it. She hadn’t really asked. She’d never thought she’d be in this situation. She’d never imagined that she’d get off the ship, just thought she’d be there forever until they reached the Golden Shore. Another possibility occurred to her, however. Maybe she’d been the only one to get released. Maybe that was why no one else remembered. Again, she couldn’t say for sure. Erol and the Baron could have been fooling her, or attempting to.
That could come after she’d gone to everyone else. Baron Praxis and Erol were entirely last resorts.
So no. Ashelin didn’t know a lick about the Brink or Aeropa, except that Phoenix was the son of the king and had been disowned or removed from the family, losing his title in the process. In her opinion, he would have been a prince anyway. That didn’t seem like just a name to her. Over time titles and names ended up becoming parts of people. Even if her father died or something like that, she’d always be known for being the daughter of the Baron.
Without that knowledge, how was she going to make it anywhere? All she had was a decent idea of which direction to go, a Hellcat Cruiser to her disposal, the bit of faith that Tess had, and then Vin’s stammering voice in the back of her head reminding her to be careful. Thoughts filtered in and out while she packed, more or less as prepared as she was going to be. She didn’t expect it to be a long trip. Maybe she’d only be there for a few hours and then go back. It all depended on how long it took her to find him. It could be days when she thought about it like that.
She didn’t want to be gone for days. She had to do what she had to do, though. If it panned out the way she expected it to, then she could say she tried and then get the hell out of the situation. Sure, it’d be obnoxious. Sure, she’d be pissed, but at least it would all be over. She could go back to Haven, stop obsessing, stop thinking about it all and just resume her mundane life and try to figure out how to prevent Haven from becoming a pile of absolute rubble.
The nice thing about the trip was more or less the idea that she didn’t have much to pack, didn’t own a lot to bring with her. Baron’s daughter or not, she just didn’t put faith into physical objects. She didn’t put faith into much of anything. Doing anything like that just seemed like a waste of time and energy. She had so many other things she could be doing, so many other things she wanted to do instead. Right now, getting the fuck out of Haven was the top priority. Some would say it was uncharacteristic of her and perhaps they’d be right, but Tess had a point.
Letting it slip through her hands, all of it, when there was just a little bit of hope couldn’t happen. Not yet. She had to try it all and then maybe it would pay off. And if it didn’t? Well…
“Ashelin.”
She rolled her eyes. She didn’t even want to hear it. She looked over her shoulder to the looming old man in the doorway. Then she lifted the bag as she turned and cocked an eyebrow, “You got something to say?”
His eyes narrowed at her, “Don’t take that tone with me.”
There was almost a sigh of defeat. She pushed it far aside, though. Couldn’t let him have that power over her. Couldn’t let him think he had any kind of influence over her. That just couldn’t happen. She tipped her head to the side and didn’t say anything in response.
“That’s better,” her father replied. “What’s all of this? Are you running away from home?”
She almost nodded. Running from anything though, generally indicated fear. The thought of him accusing her of being afraid of her ancient man was annoying, and that prevented any sort of head motion from being made. Instead, she gestured with a hand. “No. I have something I need to take care of.”
“Oh? Do enlighten me.”
I don’t think so.
“Got something to investigate outside of the city. Might take a few days. I’ll be back before you know it. You won’t miss me. You’ve got Erol doing your dirty work for you.”
“Excuse me?!”
And it was easy to see where her temper came from. In some ways, Ashelin was like the Baron. It had something to do with how she was raised. She wasn’t exactly one who grew up with her mother, didn’t even remember the woman, assumed she was just some broad that her father had managed to coax to his loins. Ashelin never thought about it, didn’t really care. It didn’t matter what happened back in those days. She hadn’t been able to understand it then and she certainly didn’t give a shit to try in the present. Not when she had other things she needed to attend to.
“I meant that he’s so dedicated that he can play the part of your son while I’m gone.”
“Ashelin. Ashelin. Ashelin. You wound me.” That condescending tone wasn’t going to fool anyone, though.
“…I call yakkow shit.” She slid through the crevice he left between his body and the door. “You can scold me all you want when I come back home. Maybe if you’re lucky, I’ll bring you a real son.” Then without even waiting to hear him go off into that tantrum that she was sure was well on its way, she took off. There were just some things that she didn’t want to wait on or wait for. Her father to be a parent was just one of those things.
Right. Because she didn’t have much faith in him, or in family at all really. What a wasted word. What a wasted idea.
← Back | Forward →