[Avia]

The Corinth was an older, unremarkable shuttle, a boxy cargo ship partially converted to carry passengers. Not particularly fast, the journey to the Hephaestus Outpost would take almost three days. It would be boring, but after the close call with Zach, I was thankful for that. The effects of my body's fight-or-flight responses, from which I chose flight, still lingered. I accessed my cybernetic implant's biometric function, confirming elevated heart rate and stress hormone levels. My hand trembled when I held it up.

Focused visualization and deep breathing helped calm my racing heart and relax my muscles, something Flint taught me long ago. With that thought, my heart dropped — I missed his caring council. I knew where Flint lived, but I've been too afraid to contact him. What if he wanted nothing to do with me?

A distraction might help, but there wasn't much to do on the shuttle. I ate a couple more Goober Gummies, but hardly noticed the flavors.

Years ago, I downloaded several terabytes of music, books, movies, and games into my head. Games no longer interested me, and I didn't have the focus for an escapist novel or movie, so music it was. Old jazz ballads from twentieth century Earth were my favorite for relaxation — back when the instruments were acoustic, and that mattered. Intimate and soulful, each song told a heartfelt story, with or without lyrics. I started with Coltrane, and a warm tenor saxophone melody, accompanied by piano, string bass, and drums, washed over me like gentle cleansing rain. Soon, I drifted off into peaceful sleep.

But it didn't last long. The nightmare came again.

Dark rolling mist obscured the moonlight as I stood planet-side among the smoldering ruins of a great city — destruction I caused. A great crowd emerged and surrounded me, people of all ages and situation, those that once occupied this city, those now dead, those I killed. Expressionless faces and hollow eyes pierced my soul, especially from the children.

"Why?" a young child asked with the most innocent of voice, clutching a torn stuffed animal. "Why did you kill us?"

Lifting my hands, I found them drenched in blood, dripping down to the sterilized soil. Guilt flooded my soul, bitter and putrid, constricting my throat and leaving me unable to answer. For what could I say? How could I excuse my atrocity?

Beside the child, a black hooded jury materialized from the mist. Rising side-by-side, they lifted cloaked arms and pointed bony fingers. "Guilty," they chanted in unison, rising in volume.

"Mercy!" I pleaded in a choked voice, kneeling down. "I never meant for them to die."

A burly man in a black hooded cloak parted the mist and stood beside me, brandishing a huge rusty battle-ax. "Judgment shall be done," he proclaimed in a deep voice. I gazed within his hood, but there was no face, only a dark abyss. With a grunt, he swung the ax...

I awoke with a cry, my heart pounding and breath ragged. Sweat droplets formed on my forehead. The lights were low in the cabin and most passengers slept. Fernando snored in the seat beside me with his mouth hanging open, but an elderly woman across the aisle turned and lifted an eyebrow.

Old scars on my soul ripped open, flooding me in rancid shame and drowning my rational self. Memories boiled up from a dark place from when, as an operative in the Cyber Assault Force, my actions destroyed a city. Hundreds-of-thousands perished — collateral damage they rationalized, but families, children...

As a single trembling sob escaped my lips, the woman leaned closer. "Are you alright, dear?" she whispered, concern painting her face.

"Just a bad dream," I replied, looking away. "It's nothing."

Yet again, I rejected earnest compassion, keeping the pain to myself. There was only one I could talk to. Closing my eyes, I initiated the call through my cyber implants.

"Avia?" Zach answered over the link.

"Zach..." I paused, trembling. "I'm sorry, I just need someone to talk to."

"The nightmare again?"

"Yeah..." A tear traced my cheek.

"It wasn't your fault. You were a soldier following orders. I've read the reports. That strike essentially ended the war, probably saving a hundred times as many future deaths."

"I know..." My cyber voice cracked as a shudder wracked my physical body. "But--"

"And you were a child in an impossible situation. I hold you blameless. This only tortures you because you have a good heart. I know it is not easy, but try to forgive yourself."

With Zach's comforting words, I almost forgot that he was the one hunting me, threatening my freedom, a duality I did not understand. But for now, I said, "Thanks, Zach, for talking to me."

"What's a nemesis for? I'll see you soon, Avia."

As my heart calmed, I settled back into my seat and closed my eyes. But then my heart re-accelerated and my eyes shot open. Wait, had he just said 'see you soon'? Was he waiting for me at Hephaestus Station?

No, I told myself while blowing out a breath. He was just messing with me, hoping I would do something desperate, thus revealing my presence. "Nice try, Zach," I mumbled before drifting off to more pleasant dreams.

The rest of the voyage was uneventful, and I busied myself with reading, meditation, or playing with the children of the woman I met earlier. And to my pleasant surprise, the shuttle had a small wash station by which I cleaned my clothes and my body.

Still, Zach's parting words haunted me. Surely, he would not be waiting for me? As the shuttle docked, I accessed the Hephaestus Outpost security system. No sign of Zach on the cameras and nothing of him on the arrival database.

Just relax...

Nonetheless, I exited last, passing through the dock tunnel with a dark cloak hood pulled up over my head. Backpack in hand, I scanned the crowd upon entry and snuck off to one side. Compared to the Meridian Station, the Hephaestus Outpost arrival hall was utilitarian and bland, with none of the colorful advertising displays or eye-pleasing architectural design.  

With a deep breath, I chastised myself for being too paranoid. But then I gasped when Zach's smiling face appeared before me.

Well, crap...

The large-bore gun he carried fired with a pop, and the net entangled me in wire mesh, wrapping me like a constricting cocoon until I could do little more than wriggle while collapsing to the grimy floor. Also a Faraday cage, it nullified communication from my cybernetic implants.

"Fuck!" I spat, struggling. I rarely cursed, but this situation seemed worthy. 

The crowd in the arrival lounge let out a collective gasp, but then went on their way after Zach held his Bounty Permit high, twirling around. Apparently, I was not worth the trouble to challenge his authority. The woman who I earlier helped with her children, let out a wide-eyed gasp, then shuffled her toddler along.

Zach stood over me, gazing down with an irritating smug grin, green eyes sparkling in victory.

"Avia... Told you I would catch you." Zach taunted, then with an exaggerated melodramatic tone, he said, "At last, the Cyber Witch's reign of terror has come to an end!"

The string of follow-up curses on my lips became a grunt as he slung me over his shoulder like a sack of grain.

Head down across his back, I writhed, but Zach's grip held true. "Put me down, you... you heathen!"

"Heathen?" He let out a chuckle. "Avia, you really know how to hurt a man. My self-esteem may never recover." He reached down and snatched up my backpack, grunted as he lifted it and me. "This is heavy. What do you keep in here?"

"Everything I own," I replied with a sigh. "Okay, so how did you find me?"

Taking his hand off my bound legs, leaving me draped over his shoulder, Zach rifled through the worn backpack side-pockets. "Ah, here they are!" He held up two packs of sugary snacks like a carnival prize. "I tracked Goober Gummies sales. Multiple pack purchases likely meant you. Then I just had to check on nearby space flights. I guessed right. Lucky me, huh?"

"Yeah, lucky." Goober Gummies... If my hands were free, I might have smacked my forehead for my negligence. "When they said too much sugar was bad for you, this was not the way I thought."

"Good one!" Zach chuckled. "And now that I have you, I will have enough points to fulfill my Hunter contract."

"Wow... Lucky you." My voice dripped with malice.

Then he marched down the hallway with me bundled like a hunting trophy, inviting numerous stares as the moving crowd parted for us. Growling like a beast, I bucked, kicking at his chest with net-wrapped feet, but he just gripped my legs tighter.  

"Easy, now, girl," he said. "You know, you're lucky, too."

"This is lucky?" I spat back. Good God, he was infuriating.

"Lucky that I was the one to catch you! Some Hunters just kill their targets. It's easier to handle a dead body, especially when they squirm like you, and turns out, there's less paperwork."

I mumbled, "With what they will do to me, you might as well kill me."

"That's dark for you, Avia."

With a deep breath, I gathered my courage for a different tactic. Using my best seductive voice, I cooed, "You know, Zack, if you don't turn me over, I could make it very pleasurable for you." As he snapped his head around, I pouted my lips. A wink of my right eye didn't come off so well, since my left eyelid trembled at the same time.

Zach tilted his head back and let out a rolling laugh. "Your technique needs work, Avia. But no can do, sweetheart."

Anger laced with embarrassment boiled up from my core. "Arghhh! You are impossible!" 

"That's what most women say." He came to a heavy metal hatch stenciled with the words 'Hephaestus Transit Detention Center' in block letters. "Here we are."

Inside, the gray-haired man sitting behind a long, scuffed counter grinned and nodded. "Got her, I see. Cell three is open."

Zach returned the nod with a mock salute, then continued down a dim hallway lined with plas-steel grid cells. Inside one, he flung me off his shoulder, dumping me on a narrow bed. I landed with a grunt.

But then my gut twisted as he pulled out a pneumatic syringe shaped like a small handgun and dialed in a dose. "What are you doing?" I asked in a weak voice as my heart raced.

"It's just a sedative. Standard procedure for transporting dangerous Aberrants like you."

Putting the tip against my arm, he pulled the trigger. As the syringe hissed, producing a brief sting, the reality of the situation hit me like a meteor. My life as me was over. Trembling, I gazed at Zach through watery eyes while he maintained a blank expression.

Damn him.

"Please, don't do this Zach." I pleaded as tears traced my cheeks. "Please..." My vision blurred and my mind dimmed as the drug took effect. "Please, no... Please..." I begged again before darkness overtook me.