Halfbreed Ch. 03

Consciousness came with a blast of cold water across Mike's face.

He choked and spluttered, finding his mouth filled with water as he instinctively spat out the offensive liquid. The groggy smuggler tossed his dripping hair behind his head, getting the dark bangs out of his eyes as he leaned back in the metal chair he was shackled to. His arms were cuffed behind his back, linked to a chain leading down to the floor. His legs were similarly bound, tying him to the metallic chrome seat. He couldn't sit comfortably, the chains prevented him from leaning too far forward or too far back.

Mike blinked a few times, working out the blur as he gradually came to his senses. His head hurt less than he had expected, and despite his grogginess he could tell he was healthier than he ought to have been, given the injury he'd suffered. He cast his gaze around, finding himself in a sparse, barren room with white stone tiling. There was a two-way mirror to his left; the buzz of the fluorescent lights above him made him feel shifty and uncomfortable. He was in an interrogation room.

"Wake up." Growled a harsh voice that Mike took small note of. He did not lift his head to see who had said it. Water dripped from the tips of his hair like pattering rain, it collected into a small puddle on the floor in the space between his feet.

"I know you can hear me, Human." The voice said again. It was gruff, but feminine. The buzzing of the lights was already starting to annoy Mike.

"Then why are you talking so loud?" He replied, snorting to try to get the lingering water out of his nose. He felt a hand grasp the back of his head, gripping him by his hair and jerking his head up.

He was to face with a female Orc. Her teeth were bared and she bent over him in an aggressive, domineering fashion. Her chocolate colored eyes squinted at him with harsh suspicion. He could see she was doing her best to intimidate him.

"Hi there!" Mike gave her a winning smile, blowing the wet bangs from his eyes. "The name's Mike. How do you do?"

"A lot better than you're going to be doing, Human." She snarled into his face, "If you don't answer our questions."

"You'll have to ask them first, before I can answer." Mike responded, "...Isn't that usually the way interrogations go, Beautiful?"

'Beautiful' punched him in the face. Mike's head snapped around, his body shifting in place as the cuffs held him firm. He tilted in his chair for a moment before returning to a centered position, coughing. She gave him a strong look, and Mike got the message.

"You're lucky we found you when we did." The Orc said with a grunt, taking a few steps back but keeping her eyes trained upon him. "That concussion of yours would have been fatal, if we hadn't stuck your half-carcass into a medical pod."

"Well by all means," Mike said, probing his tongue around in his mouth to be sure she hadn't jarred any of his teeth loose. "Save my life, then give me another one."

"You were being combative." She said, as if that explained everything. "I don't like combative."

Mike shrugged in his manacles, "We play with the hand we're dealt, sometimes."

The Orc stopped. She moved forward, placing her hands atop his shoulders as she stared hard into his eyes. "And what 'hand' do you think you have been dealt coming to this place, Human?"

Mike laughed aloud. "Well, judging from the reception I've been getting ever since I took a pass over your moon's atmosphere, I'd say my hand is pretty shit." He winked at her. "I'm still playing it, though."

Beautiful let out a grudging huff of air and withdrew from him, stretching to her full height. When she stood, Mike got a true look at the amazon. She was thick in the body, built like a wrestler, with large muscles that were quite toned. She stood nearly a half foot taller than Mike, the front of her long, red hair braided atop her head like a warrior's crown. The back of her hair trailed forward, draping down either of her shoulders and coming to rest at the summit of her large bust.

She was clad in military fatigues, the same as the scouts from before: a riot of browns and greens and tans rolling across her clothing as she stood at near-attention. The Orc's eyes never left his own as she stared Mike down.

There was a strange whirr, then the sound of air compressing. Mike glanced over, behind Beautiful's shoulder. He was taken aback by a truly queer sight: an albino Orc sitting in a corner, surrounded by machines.

The wizened figure was wrinkled and decrepit, lying back against a reclining chair. What Mike assumed to be a "he" was hooked up to a complex hover propulsion machine. Numerous breathing apparatuses and blood filters surrounded him, covering his body in small bruise nicks thanks to his papery skin. What little hair he had left upon his spotted head was bone white, like his flesh. The wispy locks were as effervescent as a cobweb. His teeth were gone, worn down to nubs in his flaccid mouth. The Orc's eyes were closed, and his breathing was steady.

Mike glanced from the Old albino to the young Greenskin. "...Who's the stiff?"

"Shut up." She replied. "Answer my questions."

Beautiful approached, looming over him, looking down her snout as she crossed her arms. She adopted the most menacing posture she could. Given her impressive size, it was not difficult to feel menaced.

"Who are you?" She asked.

"Mike." He answered. "We've been over this before, actually. How do you do?"

"You're awfully clever." The Orc let out a grunt. "Keep saying clever things like that Mike, and I'll cave in your clever skull with a mallet."

"Do it on my right side," Mike said, turning his face so she could see the mark she'd left. "You already made it my ugly half."

Beautiful tilted her head skyward and guffawed. "Hah! Well, if you do die today Human, you'll at least die audaciously."

The White Orc in the corner stirred and groaned. The interrogator turned her head around, pausing as he shifted in place. The ventilator pumped a little faster. Mike blinked, a strange haze coming over his mind for a moment.

There was a creeping sound in the back of his head.

Focus on the questions. The interrogator nodded and glanced back at Mike.

"Uh..." Mike said, staring wide eyed at the White Orc.

"How many crew were there on your ship, before the crash?" Beautiful asked. "I presume that you were its Captain?"

Mike turned his bewildered expression to her. "...Are you seriously not going to address what just happened?"

The Greenskin grinned at him, flashing her pointed rows of teeth. "Now who is getting under whose skin?"

"What in the hell is he?" Mike said.

"Just answer the question, Human." Beautiful responded. Her grin grew predatory.

Mike couldn't take his eyes off the old Orc. "It was just two of us. My first mate Allynna and I."

"The Elf." The interrogator said. Mike's look swiveled to her.

"Yes." Mike replied. "How did you know that?"

"Vrogag came to, before you did. He told us what happened when you tried to ambush him." The Orc's satisfied smile deepend. "He mentioned an Elf intervening to save your life."

Mike scowled. "That coward will tell you any story he can to evade the shame of getting beaten by a guy half his size."

"Hah! Your concussion wasn't self inflicted, Human." The interrogator shook her head. "And Vrogag wasn't lying. He mentioned your prowess in hand to hand combat once or twice. Unfavorably."

"Yeah, well he should work on his spatial awareness." Mike grumbled, "He's lucky I didn't want to kill him, otherwise he wouldn't have 'won.' I was two steps behind him before he ever even noticed me."

"Enough time for him to beat you to a pulp." She remarked.

"I went easy on him." Mike said, grinning back at her. She guffawed again.

"You're an insolent little speck, aren't you?" Mike and the Orc stared at each other for a long moment, smiling. The ventilator in the corner wheezed loudly. Mike felt the room go fuzzy for a moment.

At least have the common decency to wait till the interrogation is over to fuck the prisoner.

Mike blinked in surprise. Beautiful let out a belly laugh. "Cull your vulgar mind, you pasty bag of bones! I was just getting to the point." She turned back to look at her prisoner. "He's impatient because you keep flirting with me, instead of answering my questions." She explained.

"So I gathered." Mike replied, eying both the Orcs. Something was off about them, more than just the voice talking in his head.

Beautiful's brow rose. "Not an ounce of fear when I strike you, nor when I bring up your crew, yet your guard raises when I mention the flirting. You are strange to me, Mike."

"I figured that it was a... private conversation between us." Mike replied with a smile. "One that didn't need verbal confirmation. And what makes you think my guard is raised?"

Beautiful narrowed her small eyes at him. Her smile was as wide as his. "Because your feelings are now withdrawn. Your smile is half-affected. You are still amused, but you feel concern about something. Concern about us, it's growing even as I speak."

Mike slowly stiffened in his chair. "...What the hell are you people?"

"These questions are going the wrong direction." She retorted. "What were you doing flying so close to Votar's orbit? Were you not aware of its reputation for piracy?"

"Of course I was aware. That's why I came this way." Mike rattled in his bindings, affecting a posture of jovial indifference. "I'm a smuggler. I was smuggling things. The best way to move things from one place-" he held his hands out like he was holding a box, "to another place, discreetly-" he moved the invisible box from his right side to his left side as his chains jingled. "tends to involve going places where no one else should go."

"So you are a fool, then." The green woman said.

Mike grinned. "Now you're starting to sound like my first mate."

"-The one who made off with one of our repulsor cycles." The interrogator said flatly.

The chained rogue shrugged. "I told you I won the fight."

"Do you know where she went?" She asked.

Mike snorted. "What makes you think I'd have any clue about 'what direction she'd go' on a hostile planet she's never been to?"

Beautiful glanced over at her older compatriot. He did not so much as stir. She seemed to take this to be some kind of sign, turning back to Mike and letting out a long sigh.

"...What was the cargo that you were smuggling before you got shot down?"

"A Mark 315 Planetary Shield Generator." Mike responded. Beautiful jerked in place.

"You just... admit it outright?" She sounded incredulous. "Either you're truly a fool, or something is going on."

Mike quirked an eyebrow. "What, were you looking to buy one yourself? Sorry, I'm almost certain mine got wrecked in the crash. I'll sell you the scrap though, if it'll pay my freight offplanet."

"You're right. It was wrecked." The Orc said, a hostile anger rising on her facial expression. She bared her teeth at Mike. "And we want to know why."

"...Is there some secret I'm not in on, right now?" Mike said, turning his head from the White Orc to the Green one. "Because I don't get what you want from me, other than-" Mike paused.

"No..." Mike whispered, a contemplative look coming to his face as he mulled the possibility. Did that slimy little Dwarf sell someone else's toy out from under them?

"Something you wish to confess, Mike?" The Orc interrogator said. Her eyes were hard upon him.

"Confess is a bad way of putting it. More like 'inform.'" Mike said. "I think I might have been flying some stolen equipment. In fact, I daresay certainly stolen. From you, it would seem."

"What a canny conclusion to come to." She retorted. "And how did you reach it, Human?"

"The same way any clever person would, Orc." He said, stressing the word and arching his eyebrows at her. "See that? That's how weird it is to call me 'human' repeatedly."

Beautiful laughed. "You make hating you a hard proposition, Mike." She stepped up to him, reaching out to grab him by his shoulders with both hands, lifting him as far off the ground as the cuffs would allow. The chains jingled as they went taut. Her eyes were inches from his own. "...But if you're lying to us, you will regret it."

"-And here I thought the manacles were there to protect you from me." Mike replied. She smirked and lowered him back into his chair.

"How did you come to be in possession of the Shield Generator?" She asked. Her voice curt and precise.

Mike shrugged. "My first mate and I worked out a deal with a local businessman on the planet Charity-"

"Ukavar." The Orc corrected him.

"What?"

"Ukavar." She repeated. "Charity is the empty word the Interlopers gave to Ukavar."

"Sure." Mike replied.

"So you are just a hired lackey." The interrogator said. "You aren't the mastermind of this conspiracy."

Mike rolled his eyes. "Beautiful, the only thing I've 'masterminded' in the last seventy two hours was getting shot down twice and getting my ass kicked once. Whatever you think I'm involved in with this deal, it's ankle deep at most."

The interrogator glanced over to confirm with the pale Orc. He did not stir, and she turned her attention back to Mike once more.

"This is a pretty weird 'good cop, bad cop' routine you're pulling." Mike remarked, nodding at the White Orc. "He hasn't asked me one question yet."

"It is not his place to ask questions." She replied, "It is his place to judge your answers."

"A living lie detector test, huh?" Mike said, letting out a snort of derision. "So are you just sitting there, reading my mind then?"

Yes.

Mike turned, looking over at the White Orc in the corner just as the old alien peeked his wrinkled lids open to match eyes with him. There was a strange intensity to the old Orc's gaze. Mike began to feel uncomfortable and glanced away.

"...Okay." Mike said, staring at the ground for a long moment. "Who are you people, and what do I have to do to get the fuck away from you both?"

"Who do you work for?" Beautiful said, ignoring his question.

"For myself. I'm a freelancer." Mike fidgeted in his bindings, feeling claustrophobic all of a sudden. "Hence why it's just a two man crew. Allynna and I take odd jobs on the sly, and we don't ask a lot of questions."

"Then who sold you the Generator?"

Mike raised his hands defensively. "Woah, don't say 'sold.' We were just moving freight for a contact. I never laid a finger on the thing myself."

"-Yet, you plotted to fly it directly past our planet, directly past the people who legally bought it." The Orc's eyes tightened, "People who were very angry to learn that the package had been 'lost in transit.'"

"I don't know anything about that." Mike replied. Beautiful glanced over to her pale companion. He did not stir.

"Then what do you know?" She asked, turning back to Mike.

"That you are actually pretty hot when you aren't busy scowling." Mike replied. She laughed.

"I see your audacity refuses to diminish."

Mike snorted, "Okay, even in a different language that has to be an innuendo."

"Answer the question." She said. Her tone implying that he'd run out of road.

"We had a contact at an Elven Weapons Company: Maeles Aelor Incorporated. A Dwarf. Goes by the name of Finget Opalbraid. He's the one who paid us to ship it offworld." Mike let out a sigh, "We assumed he was stealing off of his own company. But it looks like you people were the ones he was screwing over."

"And now you are in our custody." The Orc said.

Mike chuckled. "Yeah. I'm kinda up shit's creek, aren't I?"

"Shits cr-?"

"Heruen help me," Mike said drooping his head. "It means I'm in a bad situation!"

"That you are." She replied. Her eyes lingered on him for a moment. "That was an Elven deity you just prayed to."

"I grew up on an Elven Colony." Mike replied, "I learned more about their Gods than I ever learned about my own. Force of habit, I guess."

"Is that why a Human was Captaining an Elven Starship?" Beautiful asked. "Are you connected to the Everlasting Empire in some way?"

Only in a platonic sense. Mike thought to himself. "I did something stupid that just happened to work out well for me, and the ship was a 'thank you' for that. Allynna is a Mool-Gwaith, an indentured servant given to me by the Elvish Government to make sure I didn't crash the Halfbreed headfirst into an asteroid on my maiden voyage. She's my friend."

"Your preferred bed partner it would seem, from the way you're thinking about her right now." The Orc replied, a slow smirk growing on her face.

Mike stared at her for a long moment. "That's none of your concern. And frankly, beside the point."

The Orc's eyes filled with a tantalizing twinkle. "You react more to me mentioning your lust for your first mate than you do when I accuse you of robbing our tribe."

"Because one actually matters to me." Mike responded. "If you think I'm to blame for this beyond flying some stolen cargo, then kill me now. It wont bring your Shield Generator back, but maybe you'll get some laughs out of dangling my intestines like confetti streamers all over town square, huh?"

"Are you so eager to meet your death," The Orc said, "That you would leave your fate entirely in my hands?

"No," Mike shrugged, "I just know that's the situation."

Beautiful smiled. "Whether you like it or not." She folded her arms across her chest. "So what are we to do with you then?"

"Well, the gentlemanly thing to do would be to help me find my missing first mate and then give us a lift to Charity-"

"Ukavar."

"Right. 'Ukavar.' Drop us off instead of shooting us down for once." Mike gave her a winning smile. "Would that be too much to ask, Beautiful?"

The Orc chuckled. She turned her head to look at the old Albino. "Satisfied? Are you ready to pass judgement?" The air went hazy for a moment.

I am. The old Orc opened his eyes. He speaks the truth. What little of it he knows, at least.

"Do you think he's concealing anything?" She said. The old Orc groaned. The air pump bellowed.

This Human cowers behind his bravado like a shield, but all that he conceals is his pride. There is no falsehood.

"Yeah, well... you're old." Mike retorted.

The air seemed to ripple in front of Mike for a moment. He has harmed the Voaten, but he did so unknowingly. Justice demands he repay his debt, but the cost need not be so high as his life.

"Fly me back to Charity, and I'll empty out my bank account." Mike volunteered.

The old Orc's eyes were harder to match with than the young interrogator's. You will help us in other ways, 'Michael.'

"It's Mike, actually." Mike replied, glancing away. "-And to whom do I owe the pleasure?"

The albino ignored him. My task is finished. I will leave you two to your fornication.

Beautiful guffawed, "Get your rickety hide out of here Judge, and leave the normal folk in peace!"

As the hoverchair passed through the doorway at the end of the room in front of Mike, the old Orc paused.

You are not 'normal,' Lashvara. He said, staring at her. Make sure your alien prisoner reaches his holding cell unmolested.

Lashvara made a face at the old Orc as he passed beyond the entryway.The interrogation cell door's internal piston hissed as it slid shut once again. Mike and the female Orc were left alone in the room.

She turned to face him, giving him a wide grin as she planted her hands on her hips. "Never mind the Judge, he's as irritable as he is ancient. You did well."

"I aim to please." Mike said. "Now what the hell was that all about?"