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

Chapter V

"There really isn't any need for bloodshed,
You just do it with a little more finesse.
If you can slip a tablet into someone's coffee,
Then it avoids an awful lot of mess."
 Murder By Numbers, The Police


  MaCross had two bundles in the back of his landcruiser. Both were bound, gagged, and drugged. Of course, it took bloody half his stash of stardust narcotic to knock the damned changeling out. The landcruiser sped out into the outskirts of the dome, out into the smallest, but most impressive of the domes.

  He stopped at the gates of the Queen's complex and said, "Tell the Queen that MaCross is here, and I've got what she's been looking for."

  The spy droids flocked to him; they would know soon enough.

  "And a bonus for her as well." He jerked his head towards the back of the landcruiser.

  The purple android guard looked over to the other guard before tapping a code on the gate. It opened slowly, but they would not allow him in. A seven foot tall nightmare in immaculate white gauze robes glided towards him. A faceless hood gaped at MaCross, and a bright blood red crystal was tied around its neck. Looking inside the crystal, MaCross could see three or four Gherkin faces. The Slaverlord floated through the gate and up to the landspeeder. The main purpose of a Slaverlord besides acting as the Queen's eyes and ears was to create an atmosphere of fear. They were wraith-like creatures, and almost always accompanied by a Crown Guard or two.

  The Queen's face appeared in the cowl of the Slaverlord, smoky and distorted, like a reflection in a window. "MaCross, what have you brought me?"

  "Just what you've been looking for, Your Majesty." MaCross leaned back to put a hand on the tarp.

  "And, just what is it I've been looking for, MaCross?" the Queen asked through the Slaverlord.

  MaCross flipped back the cloth and revealed his cargo. "Daisy O'Mega and a Galaxy Ranger for you."

  "Very good, MaCross, you may come in and we will discuss your reward," the Slaverlord purred.

  The sooner he could get paid and leave the better.

  The Slaverlord moved out of the way, and the guards opened the gate the rest of the way, allowing the vehicle to move forward. Behind him, the gate closed with a heavy thud. MaCross was glad that it would open again for him, at least.

  The Slaverlord and its attendant guards led MaCross to a large shuttlebay where he settled his landcruiser on the pavement.

  A few moments later, the Queen herself walked forward, her red cape billowing out behind her, with two more Slaverlords flanking her. She was taller than MaCross, with purple skin, and red eyes that seemed to burn into him even from across the parking bay.

  MaCross swallowed nervously and broke eye-contact first. Getting out of the land speeder, he went for his "cargo," and was stopped by a rifle-brandishing guard. MaCross growled low in his throat, but stayed where he was. He didn't want to end up in the Psychocrypt himself.

  "Not so quickly, MaCross. I wish to see you... and them... personally."

  MaCross swallowed, but said nothing.

  "I want to inspect my, how shall I put it, merchandise, before I purchase it."

  Usually, an audience with royalty was a great honor, but when that royalty was the Queen of the Crown, MaCross was more than a little intimidated. It took Patch and the boys a lot of money to bail him out after he lost that shoot-out. Not to mention that just being in her presence was enough to make most people faint-hearted with fear, himself included.

  Won't you come into my parlor, said the spider to the fly... Why did that old poem come into his head?

  One of the android guards stepped forward and ran a scanner of some sort over the two prone figures in the bed of the 'cruiser.

  She walked forward, and smiled. "Unless you have failed me in this, MaCross, and continue to pay your fees as a bounty hunter, you have nothing to fear from me."

  Yeah, right, thought MaCross. Common knowledge was that this woman was everything to be feared. Death had smiled at him twice, what next?

  She walked past MaCross and up to the land cruiser. Pulling back the heavy black blanket with a gesture of her long-fingered hand, she looked the two figures over.

  The guard finished its scan and handed the device to the Queen to read the results. She looked up at her guard, who showed her the scanner results. The genetic ids matched, but the two were heavily drugged and Daisy was in a serious state. She growled, "It would appear that you forgot my orders. I wanted Daisy O'Mega undamaged."

  "She'll live," MaCross said tersely, regretting it the instant it came out of his mouth.

  "What?!" she roared

  MaCross began to stammer out an answer, an excuse, "Y-your Majesty! She asked for it! She destroyed five of my best fighters, and caused extensive damage to my ship."

  "You bungler! You're lucky you're not impressed into service as a Slaverlord!"

  MaCross hastily stepped backwards, preparing to flee. His back was met with the business end of several guard-issue rifles.

  "What happened to your fighters is no concern of mine."

  "But, Your Majesty! I also brought you the Galaxy Ranger! He's not badly damaged. Just a little bruised..."

  Her expression softened, but her voice still held its razor edge. "Ah, yes. Ranger Gooseman. A Supertrooper... I am pleased with this."

  "You may yet live to serve me, MaCross," she continued. "His friends will not be able to resist following... MaCross you have done well in this."

  "Yes, Your Majesty, they stick together and always come running when one of them is in trouble. You could use his knowledge of them to trap the other Rangers when they come after him," MaCross hastened to suggest. Anything that would keep him alive and out of the Psychocrypt.

  The Queen nodded, "Indeed."

  She motioned to her guards to take Daisy and Goose away. "Take the woman to the medical facility, and make sure you lock that Galaxy Ranger up good and tight. I can't have him escaping to warn his friends." She spun around and reached into her cape, pulling out a sizable bag. She tossed it at MaCross who caught it. "That is your payment. Take it. My guards will escort you from the palace. Thank you for your service, MaCross. May you continue to be... productive."

  MaCross couldn't quite suppress the shiver he felt at her words. He almost wished those suckers at BETA Mountain on Earth good luck in their battle to get rid of her. He wasn't about to squander his opportunity to leave, however. He jumped in the 'cruiser, and accepted the escort out of the palace, speeding back to the spaceport as fast as the land speeder could safely travel. He decided to get off Tortuna for a little while.

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