"Bounties"
22nd Shendredie, 9 (2188)
Rivkah Of Unity
One of the good things about Mum's family is that they are pretty much all on the fine line between genius and madness. Well, except for Uncle Thando, he's definitely on one side of that line.
Which is why I picked him; if I'm losing my mind, I should consult the guy who's already lost it. Get some pointers.
So, we're by the sea, skipping pebbles.
"Uncle Thando, have you figured out why I got you down here yet?"
He hums. "Heck no."He throws a rock. Then looks at me. "Much easier to wait for you to explain."
"Mum would have though."
"Yeah, she would. So, are you going to tell me what this is about?"
Time to vent. I let it all out. "I'm getting depressed about facing MSI and the bleakness of our situation and how it feels like we're all alone and how even the few allies we've found come with as many strings attached as a puppet and how it feels like I'm stuck and I don't know what to do and how I need to compartmentalise it all but I know I can't because Mum taught me not to bottle all of it up inside because things just build up and now I feel kind of crushed trying to figure out how to get us all through this when it all feels like we're all pawns on the board and-"
"Breathe, Rivkah. Breathe."
He's right. Breathe in. Breathe out. "I'm scared."
He nods. "Yeah."
"Are you?"
He taps a knife on the occular implant. "I told you guys. Death had a bite, then spat me out saying I wasn't what it ordered."
"Is that really true? I figured that was a metaphor."
"The point is Rivkah, death has to earn it's bounties. Did Sis ever give you the whole 'rebellions are built on hope' spiel?"
"Yeah."
He flicks a rock into the air. "Did you listen to it?"
"Keep taking chances until you win, or run out of chances. Didn't the woman who say that quote die?"
He nods. "Everyone dies in Rogue One. It's part of what makes the story hit hard."
"So, how am I supposed to be motivated by that?"
His one natural eye looks straight at me. "Because they made death earn it's bounties. Just like we have to. I've been fighting to kill since I was your age. Sis endured being raped a million times because she was waiting for her opportunity to fight to win."
I interrupt. "Does that imply you don't fight to win?"
"No, just that Sis is more patient in waiting for a better opportunity to fulfill her goals. I tried to survive on the margins until I was sixteen, living in fear of being captured like you, then I killed an Olinbar naval officer outside a night club. I decided later thatnight that if I was going down, then I'd be taking as many of them with me as I could. Found I was pretty good at killing."
"Wanna talk about that?"
"That naval officer was one of the first adults to rape your mother; not like the Olinbar kids she grew up with, that bastard looked closer to four times her age. I tracked him down, put a knife across his throat when he went outside for fresh air. He got my eye with his ring as he went down."
"What changed?"
"By the time I evaded capture that night, I killed three Olinbar and at least put another unconscious. Lost a knife, was forced into trying to strangle the last guy; he'd gone limp at least. I realised I could fight, and I had snapped. But I was clever. I knew I needed guns and ammo. I had a plan. Instead of looting trashbins as I had, I started using arson attacks; set a house on fire, then raid the burning building while everyone else was getting out."
"Going into a burning building? That sounds pretty dumb."
"Not when you understand a few things; MSI are cheapskates, you know that. Comes to housing design too, as they came up with very energy and resource efficient housing for their own people, not just Indentured Assets. Once you've been inside one house design, you've been in all of the houses like it. You set off a fire in a bedroom, then raid the auto-restocking cleaning cupboards."
"The cleaning cupboards? I thought you would go for the cutlery?"
"MSI have fingerprint-locked sheathes on their knives. No fingerprint, no knife. And while I'm not above cutting a hand off to steal a knife, I was there for other things."
I fold my arms. "The cleaning cupboard."
He smiles. "Ever tried mixing bleach and vinegar?"
I recoil a little nervously. "No."
"Why not?"
"Mum said you shouldn't mix cleaning chemicals."
"Ok, you get mustard gas. Surely Sis taught you that?"
"Oh."
He rolls his eyes. "Sis did psychology. I did chemistry; there's so much useful stuff under the kitchen sink. Or in a garage. Utility rooms too. Once I raided enough houses, I had gas grenades, bacterial agents, viral agents, explosives and a wide selection of medications with all kinds of useful adverse effects that I distilled into nerve agent poisons. And I needed guns. Do you know the easiest way to get a gun in a MSI controlled city?"
"No, but I would like to."
"Rig an automated personal transport to explode outside a Civic Harmony Officer station, then detonate several dozen mustard gas bombs when they run out to see what happened." He pauses, then taps a knife on his implant. "Nick a special item off the station director's body when you sweep them for loot. Know how you get ammo in a MSI controlled city?"
"Shoot the Civic Harmony Officers?"
"Exactly. But I wanted more than just raiding. I wanted to do some damage; I wanted to assasinate the CEO. Used pliers to rip a few teeth out of people who knew too much for their own good and I got a plan together - the easiest way was a long range kinetic weapon. So, I'll ask you this - do you know how to get a sniper rifle in a MSI controlled city?"
"Escalate until they bring in the military?"
"Bingo." He runs a hand up a sabre to my head. "My point Rivkah, is that the body will achieve what the mind believes. I killed a heck of a lot of Olinbar to get here. I earned the ten thousand Energy Credit price tag on my head. And if death ever wants to get that bounty, it's going to have to gorydamn earn it." He looks at me. "And you better make sure it earns yours, because you are your parent's daughter; you've got her mind and his body. And that is a freaking awesome combination."
