The Bound (Part One)

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Kali Rurik

Here it is! Exactly what you didn’t ask for. A giant wall of text!! I know you’re as excited as I am, but this is actually a project that has been near and dear to my heart for the last two years and I’m pretty excited that I’m taking a few steps forward again. Now this hasn’t been proofread at all, but I need approval like a fish needs water and I need to not go back and fix stuff like a drug addict needs to stay away from drugs. With all that said I’ve posted it here because even though I know it looks like I”m a flaky guy who jumps from project to project I really, REALLY, want to work on this one. I also hope that this isn’t just something I’ve fallen in love with and want other people to appreciate it :). Anyways if you wade through the giant wall of text I really appreciate it and thank you. I would love your positive comments too ;).

Part One

A metal table is not as comfortable as a pillow; at least that’s what Ursan thought. He reflected on his discomfort as his skull tried to find a nice resting place on the metal slab. When it was fully on its side his ear was in the way, when it hurt too much he would flex his neck to rest on his forehead. However, then his nose felt like it was being mashed back into his brain. Finally—his face tired of taking abuse—Ursan lifted his resisting arms up to form a temporary pillow for his head. It was much better, even though the bones in his elbows were uncomfortably being pressured by the table. He sighed contentedly; the pain wasn’t so bad he would have to adjust anytime soon.

“A table isn’t really a replacement for a pillow,” said Paulis: One of the two men sharing the table with Ursan.

Ursan closed his eyes and curled his lips into a smile. “I was just thinking that actually.”

Ursan couldn’t see Paulis with his eyes closed, but he could sense Paulis’s irritation.

Ursan decided to have a nice sigh before asking the question he knew he would have to ask sometime: “What is it?”

Paulis’s chiding voice hit him like a warm breeze on a hot day: Unwanted, but not so unbearable that you would move around to escape it. “Why don’t you just sleep in your quarters? Do you have any idea how annoying it is to watch you toss around on a metal table? Don’t even get me started on your rude presumption that the rest of us will tiptoe around your sleeping habits.

“Well, you see Paulis…” started Ursan, but Paulis was apparently going to start talking about the rude presumption now so there was no room for Ursan to finish.

“I mean, we all have to be quiet so you can take a nap in the middle of the stack!? We all have to come here to eat you know… the least you could do is go to your quarters to sleep.”

“But…” tried Ursan again.

“That’s what they’re there for. That’s why the stack has tables and your room has a bed and pillows.”

The previously silent third man at the table took this moment to speak four words.

“They’ll find him there,” said Oreus. Oreus continued reading his tablet and taking sips of coffee as if he hadn’t just broken into the conversation.

Paulis stared at Oreus for a good ten seconds expecting him to explain. When he realized what he was expecting and from whom he rubbed his forehead vigorously and with great agitation.

“I think you missed my point I…” started Paulis.

Ursan didn’t want Paulis to build up momentum again so he took the opportunity Oreus had provided.

“No wait a second Paulis; Oreus is right. If I return to my quarters people will know where I am.”

Paulis looked slightly confused, “Is that a bad thing?”

Ursan opened one eye to alert Paulis to the gravity of the situation.

“Paulis, I don’t think you’re aware of the gravity of the situation,” said Ursan.

Paulis stared intently at the one open eye of Ursan. He waited another ten seconds before prompting Ursan with a “go on?”

“Paulis, I want you to listen to this very carefully, because I only want to say it once and I mean only once.”

“I’m listening,” said Paulis. He was starting to get mildly irritated again.

“No, cheap zithromax no, no Paulis you don’t understand. When I say I’m only going to say this once I mean it. Don’t give me a ‘What?’ afterwards with a blank stare and expect me to clear something up because it’s not going to happen.”

“Just spit it out already!”

“Alright,” Ursan blinked his one open eye in what he considered to be an incredibly important way. “Paulis, people always want to talk to me.”

Paulis blankly stared back at Ursan’s one open eye.

“What?”

“I told you I wasn’t going to tell you twiiiiiiiiiiaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh,” said Ursan yawning.

“No—wait—I don’t even see how that follows from our conversation.”

Oreus took this opportunity to contribute his second line to the conversation.

“It made perfect sense to me.” Oreus proceeded to continue reading something that looked very important on his tablet and sip his coffee.

“See Oreus seems to *yaaawwwwnnn*” said Ursan yawning again. He continued to hope that his repeated yawning would make Paulis give up. Paulis, however, wasn’t the type to be deterred so easily.

“Wait, wait, wait… So you’ve said that people know where you are when you’re in your quarters correct?” asked Paulis to the perpetually yawning Ursan.

“I sa*Yawn*iiiiiiiid I wa*Yawn*ssssnn’t goint to he*Yawn*llllllllp you figu*Yawn*rrrrrre it out,” yawned Ursan.

Paulis continued undeterred “If I pair that with you saying ‘people always want to talk to you’ I get that you don’t want to return to your quarters because you’re always disturbed by people who want to talk to you.”

Ursan gave an approving yawn.

Paulis’s brow began to twitch in a way that made Ursan very uncomfortable. He had seen Paulis’s eyebrow twitch before and it generally meant one of two things: Paulis was irritated or Paulis was REALLY irritated.

“OF COURSE THEY WANT TO GET IN CONTACT WITH YOU! YOU’RE IN COMMAND OF THE BLOODY SHIP!”

All the other conversations in the stack stopped. The other lunch goers stared quite pointedly at the three men sitting at the Ursan table.

Ursan rubbed his nose on his arm unabashed. “That’s exactly what your sister said.”

Oreus, quite aware that their table was now the center of attention took this moment to provide his third, and perhaps best, insight: “Speaking of his sister.”

Ursan rolled his eye “Oh, don’t even try to scare me Oreus. Nadia should be on the bridge all…”

Ursan stopped prematurely because exactly at that moment he noticed the black coat and leather gloves of the second in command Nadia Rho walking into the room.

“Quick, Paulis, hide me,” said Ursan ducking beneath the metal table with the adrenaline rush of a terrified mouse.

“I’m not going to hide you from my sister,” said Paulis nervously flattening his collar. “She’d eat me alive.”

Ursan was desperately trying to get Paulis to move his legs so he, Ursan, could be more hidden. “Grow a spine man. She’s your sister. Go show her whose boss.”

“I have a spine!” said Paulis. He then remembered what was going on and rubbed his forehead furiously. “Don’t say that when you’re the one hiding under the table.”

“Look Paulis,” said Ursan suddenly looking up at Paulis through Paulis’s legs very seriously. “If your sister finds me she’s going to kill me.”

“She’s not going to kill you,” said Paulis exasperated. “She probably just has something for you to work on.”

“Which will kill me,” added Ursan.

Oreus, who had been taking a sip of his coffee, then pointed out “She’s already seen you.”

“What!?” exclaimed Ursan with terror befitting a wounded gazelle on the Serengeti.

Oreus took another sip and said “She’s on her way over.”

Ursan was running out of time quickly. He was becoming desperate.

“Paulis, I order you as the ranking officer of the Andromache to save me from your sister.”

“You can’t order me to do that!” shouted Paulis back at him. Nadia, who couldn’t help but notice her little brother yelling at the underside of the table, quickened her pace.

“I can’t order you to do that? I was pretty sure I could order you to do anything?” said Ursan perplexed by this strange development.

For reasons inexplicable to Ursan, Paulis continued to be irritated. He rubbed his forehead furiously and was about to speak but Oreus beat him to it.

“She’s almost here.”

Ursan was out of options. He was starting to sweat as the adrenaline pumping through his veins took hold. He wasn’t going to die here. Ursan knew he would have to do the unspeakable to escape. He crawled out from underneath the table and ran as fast as he could.

Nadia shouted “Wait! Ursan wait! Today’s the…” but Ursan was already out the door. He ran until he couldn’t anymore and darted into a male bathroom near the tail of the ship. As he caught his breath he let out a triumphant laugh. Shinbo, the ships cook, happened to pass by the bathroom at exactly that moment and tried very hard not to notice the evil laughter reverberating from the men’s bathroom.

It had been perfect, there was no way Nadia would chase him like a little kid all over the ship. He wondered why he had never thought of it before.

After the thrill of his success started to wear off, he began to think about his current predicament. Something very important must be afoot if Nadia herself had come to look for him instead of sending one of her lackeys (most people would refer to them as subordinates). Ursan briefly wondered about the mysterious thing Nadia needed to find him for but quickly snapped out of it. He slapped his cheeks to rid himself of those thoughts. Obviously this was one of her ruses to get him to do something. He wouldn’t be taken in so easily by her schemes. He briefly considered returning to his quarters for a nap like Paulis suggested, but quickly discarded the idea as that would be the first place Nadia would look.

Hmmm, should he hide on the bridge? No, someone there would let Nadia know; traitorous bastards. Maybe he could hide in someone else’s quarters. That wouldn’t work either, the computer would send an alert of an unauthorized entry immediately… and if the computer knows, Nadia knows. Ursan briefly considered hiding in one of the many hiding places down on the engine floor, but it was always so hot down there. He was running out of ideas quickly when it suddenly hit him that he could hide, and sleep, in a Skimmer.

Ursan checked outside the bathroom door to make sure the coast was clear. No one was in the hall. He slid his foot out to see if Nadia was waiting to jump out from behind a corner and grab him as soon as he left the safety of the men’s bathroom. He couldn’t hear anything but the quiet hum of order cheap pills the engine. He took in a deep breath and stepped out of the bathroom. Ursan then proceeded to hastily walk all the way to the tail of the ship and take a right. He passed quite a few crew quarters, an elevator, and another bathroom, but not people. He had almost made it to the big door that read “Docking Bay” in very large and official looking letters when he heard someone ask “Ursan?” behind him.

He turned around nervously fearing he had been caught. He recognized the visage of a short and skinny young man named Jeffrey. Ursan himself had nicknamed the boy “Jeff” when he had come aboard three months previous. Ursan remembered the moment with pride.

“Hello Jeff, What brings you to this end of the ship?” asked Ursan.

Jeff pointed buy acomplia online to the door he had just come out of, “I live down here sir?”

“Ahh, I see,” said Usran shaking his head just like he imagined a sage would. “Very well then, carry on.” Ursan quickly tried to get to the docking bay door when Jeff caught him with:

“Actually sir,” began Jeff. Ursan sighed silently and half heartedly turned around.

“Yes,” prompted Ursan.

“Well,” nervously tweeted Jeff. Ursan waited patiently. “I was wondering why you were going into the docking bay.”

Ursan thought very hard about how he was going to answer. He didn’t want to lie to Jeff, but he certainly wasn’t going to tell him the truth at a time like this. Ursan knew as a captain, sometimes you had to do morally questionable things for the good of the crew.

“Well, you see, I got word earlier about a massive power outage in the docking bay: which is really bad for all types of horrible reason I’m sure you can imagine as a lesser machinator… and anyways… this was something that I needed to look into personally… because there were pirates… and a stolen shipment… and Nadia is being held hostage… I need to save everybody!” said Ursan finishing strong.

Jeff stared at him wide eyed. Ursan tried to remember what he had just said, but was having a very hard doing so. He hoped it would be good enough.

“If there have been power outages I’ll tell the chief machinator. I’m sure he’ll send some people to fix it right away,” said Jeff with a light of importance shining in his eyes.

“Um well you see the thing is Jeff,” began Ursan, briefly befuddled by the passion Jeff had for his job. “The thing is Jeff that the chief machinator is probably a pirate too.”

The light that had been in Jeff’s eyes previously was replaced by confusion.

“Yep, the chief machinator is a pirate,” continued Ursan. He was so deeply into his lie now he was beginning to believe it. “That’s why I have to check out the docking bay to see whether or not he’s sabotaged it.”

Jeff’s eyes lit up with a light that was now equal to wonder. “You’re absolutely amazing sir.”

“Ahahaha” laughed Ursan while rubbing his head with the embarrassment of being complimented. “Well you know; I try really hard.”

“Give those pirates hell sir,” said Jeff giving an outdated thumbs up.

“I will Jeff, now be at ease and get to work,” said Ursan marching proudly into the docking bay.

It was only after a few minutes of starting at an electrical conduit that he remembered his original purpose for coming to the docking bay. He left the conduit—a little annoyed with himself—to stare at the four skimmers sitting old and unused in a neat row. He picked out the one furthest from the door as his resting place and climbed up the slightly curved wing to plop himself pleasantly in the cockpit. He loved the feel of these old birds and remembered some of his days as a pilot. He brushed the display lovingly and gazed down the triangular nose with affection. He took off his black coat and used it as a blanket as he snuggled down into the pilot’s seat. Ursan was in mid eye close when Nadia walked through the docking bay door with Jeff talking excitedly at her side. Jeff, you traitorous bastard, thought Ursan. He snuggled down further hoping she wouldn’t see him there, but Nadia was far more adept at reading him then the reverse. She immediately began checking the cockpits of the skimmers in turn. Ursan knew it wouldn’t be long before she got to the one he was currently using as a nest. What’s more she had stationed Jeff at the only door out of the place holding his arms wide in a gesture that could only be read as “None shall pass”.

Could this be the end for him? He was close to giving up. As she checked the third skimmer’s cockpit he began to resign himself to his fate. He tried to make his life flash before his eyes, but it’s not really something he could do. Instead he came upon a really nice day and a scoop of strawberry ice cream. He hit himself in the arm when he realized what he had been imagining at such a critical time. Ursan wasn’t ready to die and there was no way it was going to be here. He pulled himself together.

Nadia was almost to his skimmer when he realized that he was in fact in a skimmer and that the skimmer online cheap ampicillin had a big red start button. He pressed it.

*rururururururuROOOOOOOOOOOM*

The engine started. Nadia looked up at Ursan’s smiling face bewildered before shouting above the engine.

“Ursan, get down from there this instant! This is no time to be messing around!”

Ursan shouted back, “You’ll never catch me!”

He grabbed the stick and coasted the skimmer forward and then towards the docking bay door where Jeff was standing. Nadia was now running after Ursan’s skimmer still shouting things like, “Don’t you dare Ursan!” and “Stop being ridiculous!”

Ursan for the most part ignored her, realizing that these were just the words of a defeated person. As he approached the doe eyed Jeff—who was staring down the skimmer headed straight for him—Ursan shouted “Jeff the pirates have taken over the skimmer! Get out of here kid!”

Jeff didn’t have to be told twice. He bolted out of the docking bay, and after Ursan had killed the engine on the skimmer he hopped out and ran from the girl who was still running after him.

H ran down the hall soaking up his triumph. He knew there was no way Nadia would break the rule of running in the hallway so he took a moment to eat it up. That’s when he heard her fast and hard footsteps. He looked over his shoulder and saw to his horror Nadia still running after him. The terror really hit home when he realized she wasn’t just chasing either, she was gaining.

He cursed himself for being so out of shape and he cursed the hallway for being so long. He cursed ten more things that had nothing to do with his predicament before falling on his last card. Nadia might have broken the hallway running rule, but there’s no way she would be able to enter the men’s bathroom without being horribly embarrassed. He could use that. He looked over his shoulder to find she was now only about five meters behind him and still gaining. He looked to the front and saw that the bathroom was only about one hundred meters ahead. He grit his teeth and willed his legs to go faster. He imagined every last ounce of energy he had being poured into breathing and running.

Fifty meters: His breath was coming fast.

Thirty meters: His legs began to protest.

Ten Meters: He was about collapse.

One Meter: He turned off the juice and hurled himself through the bathroom door. Ursan landed directly behind Shinbo who was using a urinal.

“How’s it *heavy breathing* going *another breath* Shinbo?” asked Ursan.

Shinbo tried very hard to ignore the superior officer breathing incredibly hard behind him.

Nadia stopped just outside the men’s bathroom not winded at all.

“Ursan, this is ridiculous! I’m going to come in there and drag you out.”

“You can’t do *heavy breathing* that Nadia,” said Ursan. “Shinbo is in here going to the bathroom. You’ll scar him for life.” Shinbo finished using the urinal and flushed it. He tried to walk away to use the sink at this point but Ursan grabbed his legs and wouldn’t let go. Shinbo tried very hard to ignore the man grabbing his legs.

“Ursan, be reasonable. The reinforcements from the Interium, including the new commander, will be coming through the portal in twenty minutes. We don’t have time for this right now.” Nadia was basically begging him at the door.

Ursan still held Shinbo’s legs hostage with all of his might, but his mind had only heard new commander. “Wait, you mean I don’t have to be the captain anymore?”

“No, you’ll still have to be the captain; the commander is a rank above you. You’ll take orders from her but keep your current status.”

“Why didn’t you tell me this before?” asked Ursan.

“We all got the news three weeks ago. Don’t you read your messages?” asked Nadia.

Ursan didn’t read his messages anymore. Normally Nadia told him all of the important stuff anyways.

“And what’s more,” said Nadia through the bathroom door. “I told you all about it last week.”

Ursan considered Shinbo’s legs very carefully. “Well this is embarrassing,” said Ursan to Shinbo’s legs.

“Um,” said Shinbo trying very hard to not look at Ursan. “Can I go?”

“Of course, you can go anywhere you want,” replied Ursan, but he didn’t let go of Shinbo’s legs.

Nadia was talking through the door now. “Are you holding Shinbo hostage Ursan?”

“I’m doing no such thing,” shouted Ursan back. “I’m holding his legs hostage.”

“I’m order online tabs coming in.”

“No, don’t come in here! Don’t! STOP!”

It, however, was too late. She had already opened the bathroom door and grabbed Ursan by the collar. Nadia then dragged Ursan out into the hall and started hauling him down towards the main airlock. When they were out of earshot of Shinbo she turned around very sternly and confronted him.

“Ursan, I think you’ll find this will go much more pleasantly if you listen to me. Now sit down.”

Ursan began to protest, “I’m not going to sit down in a hallway, I’ll look silly.”

“SIT DOWN!”

Ursan sat.

“As you can see Ursan,” began Nadia. “I’m almost at my breaking point today. I don’t think I can take one more of your antics without going insane, and you don’t want to see me go insane do you?” She asked the question while bringing her face uncomfortably close to his.

Ursan stared.

“DO YOU?!”

Ursan shook his head.

“Good,” said Nadia while leaning back and nodding her approval. “Then you and I are going to meet the rest of the command staff down by the main airlock and when we get there I better not catch one wiff of your tomfoolery or you know what will happen don’t you?” She hit her gloved left hand very hard with her right fist.

Ursan shook his head ‘No’.

Nadia smiled: A sick and twisted smile. “Well then, I guess I’ll just leave it to your imagination. Now stand up and follow me.”

Nadia began to walk down the hall and Ursan stood up to obediently follow, but she turned around quickly, knocking him over.

“And Ursan,” she said pausing to let her next words sink in. “Do something about your hair; it’s a mess.”