Episode 4: Burned

Cornelius Zydeco swept his eyes across a familiar street, glancing at a series of public houses, pool halls, pawn shops, and the odd scarlet-lighted burlesque establishment.  The smoldering remains of his shirt still clung to his back, the charred blaster, now useless, was still clenched in his hand.  Sweat dripped into his eyes and blurred his vision.  Painfully, he lifted a foot off the ground and placed it in front of him, his limbs trembling.  Passers-by lifted their eyes toward him for a moment but quickly looked away.  All save one, a man dressed slightly more sharply than the average Osiran.
"Pardon, sir," he said, "I'm not in the habit of accosting strangers, nor am I in spirit a kind person, but out of sheer curiosity I must ask you where the devil you've just come from."
Cornelius looked at him without saying anything.  Then he fell over.
"So be it," said the man, walking away.  A few steps later he returned to Cornelius and bent down to his face.  "You will, of course, remember that I never claimed to be a kind person.  When our paths cross again I hope you'll inform me about the oven you seem to have crawled out of.  Good day."
Cornelius lay with his face in the gutter and didn't acknowledge the man in any way.  Then he heard another voice.
"Excuse me, please?" said a woman with a foreign accent.  "Why you are not helping your friend?"
"That man is no acquaintance of mine and therefore none of my concern.  Now if you'll excuse me I'll be on my way."
"Oh, no no no!  We must to take him to a warm bed for the healing.  Now, you are carrying his arms and I am carrying his legs, yes?  You are living nearby?  You have a shirt for him?"
"I fear you must have misunderstood me, Madame.  I'm perfectly content leaving him to sleep in the gutter tonight.  I've few enough shirts as it is.  Good day to you both."
"You nasty Anubians are all the same.  Never are you-"
"How did you know I was Anubian?" said the man, taking a new tone.
"Take this man home and help me to get him cleaned up.  You will do this?"
"Blast my curiosity.  Alright, I'll take the poor sap home, but for God's sake let's avoid the patrols.  I've no need to encounter them again tonight."
Cornelius felt himself being lifted up by two people, then slung over the man's shoulder.
"He's got a very good grip on that gun, hasn't he?" said the man.  "I'm Gaius, by the way.  Gaius Winthrop."
"I am Alejandra."
"I'd say it's a pleasure but it wouldn't be true.  Come on, then, it's this way."
They took Cornelius down a series of streets, narrowly avoiding patrols by Anubians or gangs.  They entered a small shop and brought him upstairs to an apartment, where they hosed him off with Gaius' meager cleaning supplies.  After putting the stranger to bed, Gaius lit a fire in his fireplace and began making tea.
"Well then?  Would you care to tell me who you are and how you survive on Osiris without any apparent knowledge of the way things work here?"
"I am no more Osiran than you," said Alejandra.  "And my past, it is troubled like yours."
"And what do you know of my past?" Gaius snapped.
"Only what I can see of your qi.  You are far from home, yes?  Anubis holds some powerful secrets for you."
Gaius poured himself a cup of tea.  He glared angrily at Alejandra and poured one for her as well.  He sat down.
"I was important there, you know.  My family held quite a lot of sway."
"Tell me about them."
"No, thank you.  It's none of your business. As soon as this man is walking again he can walk right out the door and you with him."
"What did you do with his gun?"
"It's in the shop.  That is what I do for a living."
"You steal things?"
"Obviously not!  I sell and fix weaponry for a moderate price.  I thought perhaps our guest would pay for the service."
"I see."
"Now where is it you're from?"
"Far.  Even farther than you."
"Isis?"
"No.  Much farther.  I am coming from another system."
"And how did you come to be here?"
"A jet pack.  That is what you call them here, yes?"
"Evidently not.  A jet pack couldn't get you to Anubis, much less another system.  You must have been on some kind of craft, surely."
"Not on, but around.  I was starting the boarding of a ship to commandeer it for my crew and got trapped in between the shield and the siding.  I used my jet pack and survived on the food I carried.  It is all gone now."
"I beg your pardon, did you say you were commandeering a ship?"
"Yes!  I am back home, how you say, a pirate of space?"
"A pirate?  And you survived for weeks on the peripheral oxygen trapped on the hull of a ship?  Do you expect me to believe this rubbish?"
"Yes.  Is true.  There was a great war on my planet and I was a refugee.  To survive, this was my only profession.  Here is my sword."
To Gaius' surprise, Alejandra drew out a lengthy foreign blade and handed it to him.
"I'm unfamiliar with this metal, which does suggest it's from another system.  It's seen a lot of use, that's certain.  Yes, I'm afraid I'm going to have to start to believe you, which doesn't say much for my current mental state."
"You see, what you can do for a sword, I can do for a person.  That is how I am knowing things about you."
"It's well overdue for a cleaning.  Your sword, that is."
"You can do this for me, yes?"
"If you pay."
Alejandra threw up her hands in exasperation.
"Always, you are the Anubian.  No care for others."
Gaius stood up and turned an unpleasant shade of red.
"Let me make something very clear," he said loudly, pronouncing each word slowly and deliberately.  "I hate that place."
Alejandra sat back in her chair.  Gaius began to pace.
"My father was not a good man.  He was corrupt even for the impossibly low Anubian standard of morality.  My mother couldn't stand him, so she shot herself with a rotating six millimeter hand laser.  My brother couldn't stand him, so he took up habits of the most devious kind to escape him.  My father didn't like that very much at all, in regards to the preservation of his own reputation, so he had him killed by thugs.  And you know something?  I couldn't stand him either.  And that's why I killed him."
He paused.
"We dueled with pistols.  He cheated but I still won.  And then the board of directors took nearly everything I had, and I was forced to flee.  And so you see, I am not a kind person, but that is not because I am Anubian, so kindly refrain from implying that my heritage commands my character."
Alejandra nodded.
"I'm going to check on the man now," she said, taking her bag into his room.  Gaius followed.
Cornelius looked at them but didn't say anything.
Alejandra took some herbs from her bag and raised them to his nose with no effect.
"And what is that?" said Gaius.
Alejandra put some in front of his face and he immediately began to cough and sputter.
"My God, that man must have nerves of steel," he said.
"Or none at all," said Alejandra, "his qi is frozen in place, he cannot move or speak."
"Ah, naturally, his qi," Gaius rolled his eyes.
Alejandra took out another herb and rubbed some on his hand.  One of Cornelius' fingers moved up and down.
"Yes, this is what he needs.  You will add some of this to his tea and give it to him."
"I will?  How curious.  I had no intention of doing so."
Alejandra sighed and made the preparation herself.  She tilted Cornelius' head back and poured some tea down his throat.
Cornelius blinked.
"I know some people that could help you," he said.
"What did he just say?" said Gaius.
"I heard what you said.  Did you hear about the Battle of the West Horizon?"
"I heard that some dissenting military officials were killed there, yes."
"And do you think that's what really happened?"
"I think, sir, that what the Anubians report is generally the farthest thing from reality."
"There were more than just a few of them, Gaius.  There were thousands, tens of thousands.  And all of them reporting to one purpose, a single name."
"And what is that name?"
"Victoriana Regency, my captain and commander.  She's alive.  And so are her brave companions, my friends Stella and Arturius.  I can take you to them."
"What makes you think I would want that?" said Gaius.
"I know you want to help us, Gaius.  We've seen what the Anubians do, just as you have."
"Well, to be honest, I am in the market for an adventure.  I'll meet this captain of yours and if she is what you say she is, I'll consider joining your cause."
"That would help us greatly.  I have need of a weapons expert.  One that's not insane, anyway, unlike Kots."
"You have a Kots?" said Gaius.  His eyes opened wide.
"Yes.  The last of the Kots.  He looks just like you, come to think of it."
"I was supposed to be Kots, you know.  I would have given anything to become one when I was a boy.  But never mind that now, where are your crew?"
"Isis.  We'd need a ship to get there.  All I have is the skeleton of one."
"We'll have to remedy that.  Alejandra, when will he be able to walk again?"
"Soon.  What is your name, my friend?"
"I'm called Cornelius Zydeco."
"You are Cornelius Zydeco?" said Alejandra, "you are the very reason I am coming to this city, how fortunate that we should meet.  It is all thanks to kind Gaius."
"Refrain from describing me inaccurately please."
"I am searching for you these many months because the people tell me you are a great hero."
"Am I?"
"I have learned that only you are decent on this planet.  You have saved the lives of so many from the gangs.  I must tell you that your cause, it is my cause also, for if I am going to live in this system, it must be among good people."
"You're in the wrong system, then," said Gaius.
"I would be glad of your help," said Cornelius, "but wouldn't you like to return to your crew in your own system?"
"I am wishing this, yes, but I cannot return to my crew for they were killed."
"I'm sorry to hear that.  Well, if it's adventure you two want, it's adventure you'll get."
He stood up, to the surprise of the others.
"Where's my shirt?"