Upon Vestia: Chapter Eight

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Starr held on when the airlocks were opened, keeping her position.  She waited to see who if any of the slavers would reach her first. Shane, doing the same in his position.

~~~
Skye and Moone nodded, moving closer to the vent to be ready to get the younger kids inside

A dark look crossed mourn's face. "Kill my creator." And it passed, he looked cheerful again. "what if god told you kill everyone on ship? Stab friend dragon?" He indicated Shane. "You no rebel?"

Ellie frowned. "That's the Exterminationists. My god would never ask me to kill, just to avoid non-humans..." she twitched, seeing the error in her logic.

Matthew read the notes carefully, exhaling through his nose a bit heavier than usual, "You finally took that thing off, eh? Pity, usually people would take advantage of something like that. I know I would have. It's an easier, universal communication. But anyway..." He exposed the bandages, "It's healing nicely. A bit yellow from healing, and tender, but no immediate pain. I suppose I should thank you and the other medic for providing healthcare."

Merith blinked once more, looking down at Heny, "Alright..."

Mourn grinned. "Terran rebel! See, free will. Bad idea if want subservience. "

---

Kay nodded, not responding to the remarks about the pendant. [What sort of medics would we be if we didn't treat someone in need? It's our job. Sometimes that means treating people we'd sooner see in pain. ] He looked tense. [I brought new dressings if you will allow me. And painkillers.]

Heny would lead him to the parts of vestia still growing where they couldn't be over heard, "I am going to be up front about thia." She sighed, "Merith...I am giving you a choice, I won't be upset or enraged by which ever choice you take. I, have plans after the twins are born that I do not want to drag you or this crew down with me." She took a deep breath, "If you desire you can return to Inara, she loves you...perhaps in more ways then I am every possible able to do."

Ellie muttered under her breath for a few seconds. Finally she asked, "So, what do you know about installing robot hands on people?"

"Your god asked you to avoid me?" Shane said quietly, frowning at her then glancing around "And everyone here, including the ship herself?"

Mourn started to laugh, clapping his hands together. "Know how make hands... no surgery though, have to ask medics. " He paused, realizing that Shane was trying to speak and fell silent so he could watch him speak.

"Yes. We're to 'Live free from the taint of the nonhuman, and flee before their inevitable approach'," Ellie said quietly.

Mourn wriggled his fingers. "fleeeee. We scary." He joked.

Shane raised an eyebrow at that then looked around again and chuckled softly "Inevitable, and here you are, surrounded on all sides by non-humans"

Ellie laughed and dove under the table. "Ooh, I'm so scared of the non-human taint! I need to flee before they can turn me into one of them!"

Mourn peered under the table at Ellie, he couldn't understand her if he couldn't see her. "Silly terran."

Shane laughed and shook his head, glancing under the table to make a playful growl at her *rawr*

"Yes, well, I've been waiting anyway, to see if something less than pleasant come. It's only a matter of time with the kind of people on this ship." Matthew said, looking rather bored, "Just a matter of time... Ah, I don't want painkillers, but fresh bandages would be nice."

~~~~~~

Merith stood there, staring at Heny blankly as she spoke. His ears almost couldn't believe what he was hearing. Twins? They were going to have twins? But then... Why is Heny concerned with Inari...? He only grew more nervous and wary as she continued to speak. "Heny," he said cautiously, "What do you think you plan on doing?..."

Ellie peered out so Mourn could see her as she spoke. "Stay away from me, terrifying non-human!" she joked lightly.

"The Family, they need to be stopped." She said simply, "And I plan on doing that." Translation was she wanted cold heart vegance even if she died in the proccess. "My friends deserve to live without fear, same with our daughters."

[While I admit there are those on this crew who are... less than happy about your continued presence on board, unlike you, we're not a group of savages who enjoy hurting others for fun and profit. You should consider yourself extremely fortunate you weren't thrown out an airlock already, and do you know why we haven't? Because we aren't like you. No we aren't all blameless people, we've done awful things, but we aren't slavers, we aren't torturers and we sure as hell haven't given innocent children to psychopaths to be reprogrammed and tormented. All anyone on this ship ever wanted was a chance to live free and maybe, just maybe find some tiny shred of joy in this bleak and unforgiving universe. Do you have any idea what the Family did to the people on this ship? Any idea at all? Perhaps if you did, you'd better understand why some here might not be feeling particularly merciful.] He took out the bandages and antiseptic and indicated that Matthew should lift his shirt so he could see his wound.

Matthew suddenly burst out laughing, "Not savages, indeed." His face suddenly actually looked somber, "I don't deal with children, and I wasn't aware of their presence at the time. Had I known there were adolescents on this ship I would have backed out immediately. But, what do I know? I'm just a slaver, right? I'm nothing but a monster. I have no heart." He let off a toothy grin. "Now yes, admittedly I do do the... Nasty work of servant trading, but there's a sewage worker in every city. I'm used to it, grew up on it, even. For empires to arise, there must always be someone to take the fall."

He lifted up his shirt. The Drakkan's blue skin had actually paled into a soft white around the wound. "Don't mind that -- that's a natural species-unique sickness. It should go away once the wound is healed."

~~~~~~

Merith froze, grasping Heny by the shoulders suddenly, "What are you talking about? Why would you even think of doing that, Hen?"

"I am done running." She jerked free, "I am done seeing my friends be harmed or killed." She struggled the last word, focusing on pushing her emotions down down once.

[Adolescents? There's an INFANT on this ship, multiple young children, not adolescents, CHILDREN. A pregnant woman for goodness sake. Even when you learned there were children, you didn't back out, you chased them down and took them prisoner too. Tell me, what was in it for you? What was your side of the deal that made selling your soul to the family so irresistible? And have you ever, in all your years of doing what you do, considered the lives you destroy and the people you break? You can try to delude yourself all you want, but i'm not falling for your shit. I KNOW the people on this ship aren't without sin, but I also know that not one of them deserved what the family did to them. Nobody deserved that, not even someone like you. ] He clenched his teeth, he was pretty angry but trying to remain professional as he cleaned and redressed Matthew's wound while he read.

Matthew rolled his eyes, "Alas, what to do when all you see is yourself? He stepped back, no longer allowing Kay to redress his wound for him and holding his hand out to recieve the bandages, "If I had known, I wouldn't have helped. It wasn't until it was too late that I knew, and if I had been the person you apparently think I am, I wouldn't be here at your mercy." He narrowed his eyes, not trusting Kay. "Though I suppose it's acceptable to assume the worst in me after only seeing one side. That's what everyone does here, aye? Assuming the worst out of people. It's a common trait you all have. Maybe that's why you all are such good, close friends."

He suddenly grinned, "What? You don't think I didn't see it? That I didn't look through the data myself? This ship is filled with people of the lowest quality, vulgar people that think of themselves better, constantly comparing themselves to their peers. 'I didn't do this, therefore, I am morally superior,' does that sound familiar? All of you, walking around, pretending to trust each other behind masks of facades that somehow, you're the good guys. Tell me, how many of your shipmates know of your disease? How many of them still live in blissful ignorance of your virus? I can tell you now that there are more murderers and evildoers on this ship than meets the eye."

He looked calm suddenly, "At least I don't pretend. I know I'm considered a bad person. I suppose that's a key difference between your crew and mine. We're honest men, and you? You're far from."

~~~~~~

"Then don't run." Merith said suddenly, looking at her with a chilly calm, "But don't do anything insane, either."

"I'm going to do what should of been done eons ago." She replied coldly.

Kay flinched at the mention of his illness. [I never claimed any of us hadn't done awful terrible things, but there is never an excuse for torture and enslavement. When justice comes, we'll all face it as we should. But you, you are not justice, you're just a vicious little man as guilty as anyone else here of thinking himself superior.

But you're evading the question. No matter how guilty some of the crew are, you cannot begin to claim everyone here is. What did Ellie ever do? What did the children do? What great crime did those unborn children commit that they should be born into servitude?

You've deluded yourself more than anyone else here, your job is not necessary, you aren't some sewage worker. Your business does nothing but cause suffering and misery.
YOu cannot sit there and tell me that my brother deserved to watch someone he loved die over and over, That his lover deserved to be murdered repeatedly, to have his eyes gouged out. that a newly hatched infant deserved to watch the only family she'd ever known tortured in front of her. That the terran girl, who has never hurt ANYONE, deserved to be driven nearly out of her mind. Asher, the children? There are people on this ship who are kind, decent, good people. The ship herself even, what did she do? The rest of us will atone for our crimes in time, but you are NOT our judge, you are not our jury. You don't get to judge. ] Kay glared. [I want you to look back and remember each and every face of each and every person you have taken onto your ship, locked up and sold on to the highest bidder. Each free soul broken and enslaved and ask yourself, was it worth it? After all you have done, do you deserve to be in one of the family's cells as well? what about your wife? Do you care for her at all? What would you do if they made you watch as they tortured and murdered her? And what would you do to the people who put you in that cell in the first place?
No, we aren't good people. But neither are you. And I think we're permitted to feel just a little bit of rage, just a teeny bit of resentment. To hold you at least in part responsible for what was done to us. Don't you dare pretend you would do any different.]

"Now you evade my answers, Hexenfolke." He said, sighing, "How many times must I tell you before it gets through your thickened skull? I did not know there were children on this ship at the time until it was too late, and I could not do a thing about it then." He suddenly went into a raucous laughter, "You still delude your own self, forget about me. No one is ever truly innocent. A babe will lie to get its candy, and a guilty man will murder and stay silent for his own life.

"My job, on the contrary, is very much necessary." He suddenly leaned in, looking at Kay with a knowing glint in his eye, "You, of all people, Hexenfolke, should know this first hand. For one kin to live like kings, others must suffer. The ancient Terran empire of Egypt rose to its golden glory on the backs of slaves, even now, they use androids and computers to further their own lives. The Family uses mere 'mortals,'" he looked disgusted at the word, air quoting it, "To live like gods in a golden age of glory. The avians fought a civil war, and the victors lived in peace and plenty while the losers were left to die on barren soil. Even the Satare..."

His grin curled cruelly, "... Use hexenfolke as a scapegoat in order to live their luxurious, aristocratic life. It is but the way our selfish hearts work. Those that get to the top of their own merit, burn brilliantly, but fall flat, and is overtaken by the greedy ones once again. There is no utopia in reality. For one to rise, one must also fall."

~~~~~~

"No," Merith said sternly, "We'll think this through, but you aren't going in alone, and not in your state. We can find help."

"I plan on waiting till the twins are born like I stated." She said firmly to Merith.