Isn't Life Strange
By: Heidi "Lady Niko" Reckel

Chapter II

"My back is in the corner
my boat is taking on water
you can't wrap fire in paper
and you can't rap your way out of here..."
 911, Cyndi Lauper


  Etak and the other gang member placed Daisy in the brig and secured her to the wall with super-alloy restraints. They stripped her of her weapons, cape and boots. She was left with little aside from her shirt and trousers.

  Daisy struggled weakly against the restraints. She already had a monster headache, as well as being still giddy and dazed from the rough handling and smoke in her lungs. She was left with little aside from her shirt and trousers.

  "Damn," she coughed. "They know me too bloody well." The scurvey dog, she thought. Probably heading to get a fat reward from the Queen. I hope she puts him in the cell next to mine.... Or at least gives me half a chance to murder him myself.

  She was hit by another coughing spasm and struggled to catch her breath. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness of her surroundings, she realized where she was: an empty cargo hold. There was nothing to pick the lock with, nothing to even sit on, even if she could reach it.

  To that animal on the bridge, this has got to be luxury accommodations, she thought. She tried to clear her throat, hoping to get rid of the lingering soreness in the back of it. She must have inhaled more smoke than she realized. "And not a bit of water in the hold." Well, she thought, he can haul his bloody carcass in here and do what he likes. I won't beg for his
pleasure.

  The hold door slid open, the bright light from the corridor flooding the dingy and ill-lit cargo hold, temporarily blinding Daisy. MaCross swaggered in, full of self importance, and stood over Daisy in the near darkness of the hold after the door slid shut behind him. It was hard for her to see anything after the sudden glare of bright lights, but his menacing shadow loomed over her.

  She tried to be brave, despite the restraints on her arms. "So, ya' dog. Ya' caught me. You realize that others'll be after me..."

  His deep, evil laugh echoed off the bare metal. "I know that, Daisy-gal. I know. I'll be getting a fat reward for you. You know Daisy-gal, you wouldn't be in this mess if you hadn't taken a shine to the Ranger boy..."

  "He's the man you'll never be, MaCross, " she snarled, putting up a brave front.

  MaCross gripped one of Daisy's arms tightly, while the other hand started to trace her neckline, then strayed below the neckline of her shirt.

  "He ain't a man," MaCross growled, "He's a freak. A Changeling!"

  "Go to hell, MaCross!"

  "We're compatible, Daisy. In more than one way, too. You shoulda stayed my gal..."

  "Stayed?! You bloody bastard, I was never your gal!

  MaCross' hands tightened their grip. The one inside her shirt began to tear the fabric. "I'm in charge now, and if I say you're my gal. You'll be my gal."

  Daisy began to fight against the restraints. "If I get my hands free, we'll see about who's in charge, MaCross!"

  MaCross laughed, "I'm not that dumb, Daisy. You ain't going to get out of those. Queen's used those on creatures with
more than ten times your strength."

  Daisy shivered as she recognized the familiar sound of a blaster being drawn. MaCross held it right beneath her chin. "Be a good girl and I won't hurt you... much."

  The hand slid out of her shirt and Daisy hurt him the only way she could, with words. "You're such a poor excuse for a man that you have to hold a blaster to me to do the job."

  MaCross fired the blaster. Daisy screamed as every nerve felt as if it was on fire. The fire abated after a short eternity but left her weak and trembling.

  "Lowest setting," he explained. "Right handy gadget Queen handed out."

  Daisy couldn't move. It hurt too much, bringing back memories of fire.

  MaCross bent over her, Daisy gasped when she realized he wasn't wearing his usual green tunic shirt.

  "As I said before, Daisy, you shoulda stayed my gal..." he said, ripping her shirt open.

  Next, he drew a knife out of his belt and sliced her bra in two, exposing her chest.

  Daisy couldn't speak, couldn't move.

  MaCross put a possessive hand on her neck as the other hand went for the waist of her slacks. He ripped them off her, cackling, "Wish there was some more light in here..."

  She tried to distance herself from what was happening... what was going to happen. She was trying to count rivets. One...two in her left shoulder... 4...5...6 in her back...

  MaCross laughed, "Where's your fight now, Daisy-gal?"

  Daisy fought for breath. She could barely manage to turn her head to the side. She fought back a moan of pain and fear. 7...8...down her rear... She heard MaCross struggling with his belt.

  "Lock up, Jikke," he cackled roughly to the guard outside. "Daisy and I're gonna need our privacy." A clank as his belt hit the floor.

  The guard outside laughed as he shut the door and called out, "Sure boss, whatever you say."

  Daisy was starting to recover from the blast. She tried to kick him off her, but MaCross had been expecting it. He pushed her back down to the floor and punched her in the jaw. She heard a loud crack as her jaw was broken.

  MaCross' knees immobilized her legs as he bent down and hissed in her ear, "I said you were my gal, but you didn't want to listen."

  Daisy whimpered in pain. She fought against the nausea that threatened to overwhelm her. She would not give MaCross the benefit of seeing her sick to her stomach.

  There was a sharp stab of pain as MaCross forced himself into her. Daisy arched her back and cried in pain, but MaCross slapped her. "Stay down, bitch."

  He pushed her back to the floor with so much force that Daisy could hear her ribs crack. She fought to get even a small breath into her lungs.

  It seemed to go on forever. Daisy knew MaCross could be rougher with women...A few whores he had picked up last year in Sorry End didn't live to serve another john.

  But, in the back of her mind, Daisy knew why he was sparing her life... It was to take her to another fate, one that made what he had done to those streetwalkers look down right merciful.

  Finally, her abused body could take no more, and Daisy escaped into unconsciousness....

* * * * *

  The emergency beacon that Daisy had modified cruised slowly towards the commercial space lanes, waiting to broadcast its beacon until it had reached its programmed target area. It had long since left the wreckage of Daisy's ship behind, and was making its way through the empty zone. The beacon would not reach the commercial lanes before at least another twenty Earth Standard Hours had passed.

* * * * *

  Somewhere in hyperspace, heading back to Tortuna, Daisy O'Mega lay in tremendous pain. She had come to sometime after MaCross had finished brutalizing her and wished to escape back to the oblivion of unconsciousness. She could not name a part of her that did not ache or throb. Her arms were still tethered in the super-alloy restraints, and ached from being pulled back behind her head for so long, her broken ribs made drawing even the slightest breath painful, and her broken jaw made her whole head just throb with pain, not to mention where else she hurt because of MaCross' "tender ministrations." In short, she was a mess.

  "Oh Daisy, you are in trouble now," she whispered to herself, afraid to move because of the pain; afraid to sleep for fear that she would never wake up; afraid that MaCross would come back for more; afraid of what the Queen was going to do to her when MaCross handed her over to her; afraid for all those innocent people on the frontier world who were doomed to become the Queen's Slaverlords because she had failed to keep from being caught.

  Oh, how she wished for something to take away the pain... It was some time later, but the pain finally managed to drag her back into unconsciousness, and by the time it did, Daisy went willingly to escape the pain.

  On the bridge of the ship, MaCross had made contact with the Queen of the Crown and arranged to hand Daisy over to her. He was gloating over the fact that he, and no one else who had been chasing Daisy, had caught her. Oh, he was going to enjoy handing her over to the Queen all right.

  He looked over at Patch who was just coming on watch and asked, "How long until we reach Tortuna?"

  "Another twenty hours." Patch answered.

  "How are the engines holding out?" It had taken them several hours of repairs to bring the hyperdrive engines back on-line after Daisy had shot them up. Since then, they had been in hyperspace, heading back to Tortuna.

  "All readings well within safety limits."

  MaCross growled, "Good. I can hardly wait until we can collect that reward from the Queen of the Crown."

  Patch said nothing, but he gazed at the current leader of the gang through narrowed eyes. He wouldn't put it past MaCross to try and sneak off with all the reward money so he wouldn't have to share it with anyone. Until they had claimed the money for Daisy's capture and split it among everyone, he would be watching MaCross very closely....

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