Crimson, CH26 (Patreon)

Alex grumbled as Doc helped him onto one of the medical beds.

“What happened?” she asked.

“Fought,” Will provided, and Alex glared at him.

She looked from one to the other. “Might be best if you just leave him with me. I’ll take good care of him.” She headed to one of the cabinets and came back with a scanner.

Will nodded and left.

“So? What happened?” She ran the scanner over Alex’s leg and cursed in a language he didn’t know. “Who did that to you? Anders?”

“It’s nothing.”

She gave him a disbelieving look.

“I mean it, don’t worry about it.”

Doc gently rested a hand on his leg. Alex winced as the simple gesture sent a murmur of pain along it. “Alex, if you don’t tell me exactly what happened, I’m going to start squeezing.”

“I thought doctors weren’t supposed to hurt people.” 

She squeezed, he yelled and cursed.

“Maybe you didn’t notice this part, but I work with pirates. I’m not here out of the goodness of my heart. Now talk.”

“Anders conned me into starting a fight in a bar. That’s where I got this.”

She removed her hand. “Anders forced you to walk from there to here? And what were you doing going along with anything Anders said?”

“He conned me,” Alex emphasized. “And it wasn’t that bad when I got back, but I went back down to retrieve something.”

“You didn’t come right here?” Doc glared, and her hand moved to Alex’s leg again.

“Hey!” Alex reached for her hand. “No hurting the passenger.”

“Why didn’t you come directly here?” Her hand hovered over his leg.

“Will accidentally handed something of mine to be sold. We had to get it before your reseller passed it along.” She didn’t move her hand. “It has sentimental value. I couldn’t find another one.”

“Damn it, Crimson, didn’t enough people tell you not to trust Anders? The guy’s dangerous and he hates you.”

“Trust me, I learned my lesson. The next time he tries anything, I’m going to clock him.”

Doc grinned as she got something else from the cabinet.

“I’m serious. I actually wanted Ana to start teaching me how to fight right now, but she insisted I see you first. I mean, I’m going to have to fight injured, so I might as well learn how to now.”

“At least one person’s thinking. Will should have brought you to me.”

“He tried. I wouldn’t let him. Just heal my leg so Ana can start.”

“I thought she was already training you.” She came back with a cast and began attaching it to Alex’s lower left leg.

“I wasn’t taking it seriously before. I didn’t realize how underhanded Anders could be.” He rested his head back while she finished setting it up. Once she activated it, he sighed. The absence of pain felt euphoric. “Can I ask you something?”

“So long as it isn’t about me, sure.”

“How come there aren’t any aliens on the ship?”

She smiled. “Right, you like those. Will told me,” she added.

“So, the captain doesn’t like aliens? I’d think the right one would make a great pirate.” He imagined Alphalar using his head tentacles to carry more stolen stuff.

“The captain doesn’t mind them. We had a few, years ago when he first got the ship. And yeah, they carried their weight, but on a crew this big, there’s always going to be some who don’t like them, like Anders, for example.”

“What’s his problem with them?”

“Oh, I don’t know, most are stronger or faster or smarter than he is. Anyway, there were a few accidents. Only one died, but plenty got hurt. After a while they left, and the captain realized it wasn’t worth looking for more.”

Alex nodded, and wondered what Tristan would do to someone like Anders. He chuckled. There wouldn’t be enough left of the man to fill a cup. With that cheery thought, he looked at the cast over his leg.

“How long until my leg’s healed.”

“It should be good to support your weight in about three hours.”

“Good, I want to get back to training soon.”

“But,” she continued, “you’re staying here for the next two days.”

“What?”

She loomed over him. “I don’t trust you, Crimson. The moment I let you out of this bed, you’re going to run to get hurt again. And this time you might not be so lucky as to only end up with multiple fractures. I might have to cut off your leg, and trust me, you’re not the peg leg type.”

Alex grumbled again.

“I don’t care. Bitch all you want. If you even think of getting out of it, I’m strapping you down.”

Unbidden, the image of him in a horrible chair, his arms, legs, chest, and head tied to it, surfaced, and he shuddered. Since he had nothing else to do, he leaned back and closed his eyes.

* * * * *

Alex punched the man before him, his jaw breaking with an audible snap. He bent down to avoid a woman’s fist, grabbed a chair leg, and used it as a club on the way up, catching her under the chin and sending her flying back.

Someone whistled. “Way to go, Alex! Incoming on the left!”

Alex elbowed the man in the face, hearing him drop as he glanced around, looking for his cheerleader. Tristan was seated on the bar. He put his fingers to his lips and whistled again.

Suddenly, Alex knew this was a dream.

The fight stopped, the actors standing immobile. Tristan looked the scene over.

“Come on, Alex, you were doing so good.”

“I’m not fighting, not for you.”

The alien dropped from the bar and walked to Alex, taking him by the shoulders. “Hey, this was all you. You can’t blame me for any of it. I’m impressed. I mean, you’re not me, but you actually held your own. You managed to hurt a lot of them and walk away mostly unharmed. I didn’t think you had it in you.”

Alex shoved the hands away. “I’ve already killed two men,” he said bitterly, “in case you’ve forgotten.”

“Guns are easy. A good brawl, now that’s tough. But fun, right? You can’t tell me you didn’t enjoy yourself.” The alien stepped behind Alex. “I do have a question.” He grabbed Alex and spun him. “How come he’s still alive?”

They weren’t in the bar, they were in the warehouse, at the counter. Alex had the old man by the collar and was holding a knife to his neck. He tried to let go of him, but couldn’t.

Tristan leaned against the counter. “Why didn’t you kill him? You wanted to, don’t lie.”

“Stop this.”

“I’m not doing anything, this is all you. I’m you, too.”

“No!”

Tristan laughed. “Come on, Alex. This is your dream, your head. You cast me in the role of who you really want to be.”

“No!” Alex shoved the old man and backed away as far as he could.

He hit something and spun.

“You’re going to have to make a choice,” a golden-furred Samalian said, handing him a glass half-filled with amber liquid.

Alex looked around. He was back in the bar, but they were the only ones in it. The tables were still overturned and broken, but all the fighters had left.

“Take it,” the Samalian said. “You need to relax.”

“Who?” Alex started to ask as he took the glass, but the notched ear reminded him of someone. He leaned over the bar to check something.

“It isn’t that kind of dream,” the Samalian said. “I’m wearing pants.”

Alex blushed, but it wasn’t what he wanted to confirm. The Samalian had a sword at each hip.

“You’re the Defender.”

The Samalian shook his head and sipped his glass. “That’s the Defender.” He indicated the statue on the counter. “I’m just a representation. You made me look like it because you needed someone to get you to look at things properly.”

Alex snorted. “Why now? I’ve been having nightmares for months. And why you? Why didn’t I get someone else to have this talk with me before now?”

“Who do you know, Alex, that could stand in and get you to take an honest look at yourself?”

Alex thought about it. Not his parents, that was for certain. Not coworkers either. His grandparents?

“Would you really saddle them with that job? They love you, they’ve always supported you. Even now, when your grandfather knows you’re in trouble, stole, he still wants to protect you. Could you really get him to tell you ugly things about yourself?”

“Fine, then why didn’t you show up before?”

“I don’t know. Until today, you always thought it was just a reproduction. Belief has power, maybe that’s why.”

“Fine. Then I’m guessing you’re going to tell me I have no business fighting, or killing people. Well I have news for you: I already know that.”

“I’m not here to judge you, Alex; you do that fine all by yourself.”

Alex let out an exasperated breath. “Then what?”

“You’re changing, Alex.”

“Do you think I haven’t realized that?”

“But why are you changing?”

Alex frowned.

“He’s who you want.” The Samalian pointed to another one seated at a table, holding a tall glass of clear liquid and looking into it.

Alex recognized him immediately and took a step in his direction, but someone held his arm.

“Let go of me,” he told the golden-furred Samalian.

“Not that kind of dream either.” He pointed to another one, seated across the room from the first one, almost identical, except for the cocky expression on his face. He raised his glass, saluted Alex, and downed it. “He’s who you’re afraid of.”

Alex pulled out of the hold. “I know that. And you’re who? Who I have to be?”

“No. I’m the mirror in which you have to look.”

“You might be broken. I don’t look anything like that.”

“Would you want to?”

Alex went to answer, but found he couldn’t. The idea of being covered in fur, muscular, having a muzzle. His breath caught. It was wrong.

“No,” he stated. “This is who I am. I love Jack; I don’t want to be him.”

The Samalian nodded and sipped his drink. “How about him?” He indicated Tristan.

“Are you crazy?”

“You tell me.”

“Of course I don’t want to be him. He’s a monster that kills people.”

“Like you said, you have too.”

“I didn’t have a choice. It isn’t like I wanted to kill them.”

“But you know what being on this ship is doing to you. You can feel it. You can feel him ever-closer to you.”

“I don’t have a choice,” Alex repeated.

“Don’t you? This ship can’t be the only one going to Samalia. You did your research. They do some trade, not a lot, but some. That means other ships go there, honest merchant ships.”

“But they’re going to take longer.”

“Is time that much of an issue?”

Alex didn’t answer. It wasn’t the first time the question nagged at him.

“That’s one of the choices you need to make. What are you willing to sacrifice to get there faster?”

Alex looked at the Defender statue.

“Not that,” the Samalian said. “I’m not talking about outside things. I’m talking about pieces of yourself. You got a glimpse of who you can be in that fight. Another one with the old man, and yet one more with Oustalo. Even now, you want to learn how to fight so you can take on Anders. Is that who you want to be?”

Alex didn’t know how to answer.

“Maybe you should go and sleep on it.”

Alex nodded, and headed for the door.

“Alex, don’t forget that.”

The Samalian was pointing to the statue. Alex came back to the bar to take it, but noticed a book laying on the counter. Myths, Beliefs, and Legends of Samalia. He reached to pick it up.