This is Part 2 of a serialized story. The last part is found here: https://robertsspaceindustries.com/spectrum/community/SC/forum/55060/thread/jennai-locklest-s-bad-day If you like the story, let me know what you think in the comments! ------------------------------------------ The Genevieve's airlock hissed around Jennai. She waited, impatiently tapping the Kastak ballistic pistol on her thigh with her index finger, the motion and rhythm keeping her focused. There was still work to do today. Finally, her helmet showed normal oxygen levels. The lights stopped flashing around her, and the airlock doors slid open. Harver was there, along with the ship's makeshift doctor and arm-worker, Jasp. The three other crew members idled around behind them, trying not to look too interested. Why are they here? Jennai thought. Her mind was running hotter than the ship's thrusters, unsure what would happen next. Then she saw what she'd been tensed for. Component Salvage Lead Niles Gilber and his salvage crew, consisting of Shan and Coll, strode out into view. The crew wasn't necessarily here for her. They were here for the show. "So you made it back after all!" Niles started. His voice was even, his words carefully measured. "Well, no worries. I already explained your accident to the crew. When you tumbled off that cliffside and went silent, we all thought you were as good as spaced. Could've happened to anyone. You're lucky you survived." He stopped, looking at her as if inviting her to play along. Jennai said nothing, her helmet hiding much of her cold expression under a darkened visor. The long pause grew tense. The crew, Harver and all, had parted to each side, their eyes passing loosely from Jennai to Niles and back. Shan and Coll both wore weapons, and they looked anxious to use them. Niles broke the silence, but his tone showed that he knew as well as anyone that they were playing games here. "I don't suppose you'll be returning to your duties for some time, after a scare like tha-" In one fluid motion, Jennai pulled the pistol from her thigh holster, took aim, and placed a bullet in Niles' head. Crew members gasped not in surprise, but out of simple habit, taking cover behind bulkhead fittings and empty crates. Shan and Coll reacted instantly, drawing their own weapons, but Jennai's military training, years past now, was hard to shake. Four more rounds left her weapon, two shots in each assailant's chest. They fell to the deck, faces shocked as they choked on the blood that had begun flooding their lungs. Coll, to his credit, tried to lift himself to get a shot off. Jasp, who had pressed himself as far into the wall as possible, lunged out and slammed Coll's gun hand to the floor, the energy round going off harmlessly into the airlock door. "If you want to die, boy, you'll be doing it in my sickbay," Jasp growled. "She beat you three, fair and square." Shan stayed down, whimpering softly. There was solemn silence as the crew left cover. A few shook their heads at Niles as they passed his perforated head, the blood making a small pool they were careful not to step in. You set yourself up for this, their stares seemed to say. And he had. Playing this sort of game outside of UEE space meant that the law could pretty much be summed up as "Who's more badass?" Niles just hadn't counted on it being Jennai. "Well, hell," Harver muttered. "Niles was a good salvage lead. Now I've gotta find myself a new one." He grumbled his way over, walking with his customary limp-turned-swagger that Jennai normally found quite endearing. At the moment, however, she was trying to calm her nerves. With Shan and Coll carried off to Jasp's sickbay, she had holstered her pistol again, but when Harver rested his hand on her shoulder, she snapped her helmeted head around far faster than normal, trying to back out of his grip. "Relax, kid," Harver said, trying to be calming in his rough, drawling voice. He sighed, but didn't let go of her shoulder. "Take off that helmet, let me look at you." She complied, her dirty-blonde hair still loosely in its bun. Jennai met his eyes and found a gaze as intense as any she'd ever seen. "I take it he tried to get rid of you down there, once the atmo was blocking sensors?" Jennai nodded, the combination of Harver's lazy drawl and laser-focused stare putting her off-balance. "Figured. So it wasn't just crumbling rock that sent you over the cliff?" "No, sir. Niles and Coll threw me." Harver nodded. "And how'd you get back up to the target ship? They told us it went down with you." "It never went anywhere, sir. They just...left it. I didn't fall as far as they thought. There was an overhang just past the edge they didn't see." "And you got that Vanguard running? Just like that?" "Pretty much. It wasn't easy, but the ship's power supply and some of the thrusters were still working, so I managed to get it off the ground." "Huh." The stare bored straight into her head for what seemed like ages. Finally satisfied, he released her shoulder and looked away, glancing at Niles where he lay on the floor. "Idiot was too ambitious. Naw, greedy, more like. Couldn't stand the thought of some interloper coming after what he thought was his. Guess he figured you were competition." "And was I, sir?" "Fair enough. Whether you were gunning for it or not, we need a new salvage lead, and you're it. Niles's quarters'll be yours too." "Sir?" "And cut out that 'sir' cockamamie slag-shite. This isn't the navy." "Sorry, s- Harver. You're not...angry?" Harver sighed again, something he did often, and looked back to face her. She noted that the intense look was absent this time. "Well, Jenn, what'd Niles try to do?" Jennai hesitated. "He tried to kill me." "Right. And what'd you try to do?" Harver said, a grim smile cutting across his grizzled face. "Kill him back." "True enough," he said sharply, almost cutting her off. Then, in a milder tone, he continued. "Jenn, you both tried to kill each other, and he even tried first. Your try was just a whole lot better." "So you're not holding me until we reach UEE police?" She had expected some kind of...something. The complete lack of concern from Harver was surprising. She had, after all, just killed one of his crew, and severely injured two others. Harver stared at her for a second, then laughed, the sound filling the ship for a moment. "Girl, I'm not about to punish what's fair! We're not even in UEE space! The police'd tell you the same thing. Besides, even if we were, this is my ship, and fair's fair. If that poor sonuvagun couldn't finish a fight," he said, still chuckling as he pointed his thumb at Niles' corpse, "Well, then he shouldn't have started one." Jenn nodded slowly, finally coming more fully out of her combat focus. Harver slapped her back hard. "Now, get some food, and then get back out there and get what we came for. It's your job now."