6.15  ·  One Good Thing

“I got tears in my ’fro, ’cause my world is upside down over you…”

The little hatch in the door swung open with a squeak, and Zoey’s unimpressed face appeared.

“Your endless caterwauling is giving me a headache, Mister Brown.”

Rembrandt perked up. “Oh, then I’d better keep on goin’.” He grinned, and continued his song.

“I should comb ’em out—”

“Oh, I shall enjoy inflicting pain on you.”

Rembrandt’s voice caught in his throat, as the heavy door to his cell swung open, revealing a pair of large men on either side of Zoey. He retreated against the wall at his back.

“Uh, listen, let’s not be hasty, alright? I’ll pipe down. No more dulcet tones, got it.”

Zoey’s uninterested expression remained unchanged.

“None of this is about you. All our intel says you’re nothing but a washed up singer who ended up where you did through dumb luck.”

“Hey now, that hurts,” Rembrandt said. “If you get to know me, maybe you’ll change your mind.”

“I doubt that very much.” Zoey nodded to the men, and they approached him. “You’re only useful insomuch as you provide a useful conduit to Thames, who appears to be trying to betray me.”

On one hand, good for him. On the other… ruh-roh.

One of the burly men held him down, while the other started placing cold metal objects onto his head, all connected by wires.

“Hey man, whatcha got there?” said Remy to the man, who ignored him entirely.

The man holding him down roughly jostled him towards the platform that served as his bed, and began placing round glowing devices around his wrists, ankles, and neck.

Zoey pulled out a device that reminded Rembrandt of the gizmo that the Professor was using back on Earth Prime, and she tapped on it. All at once, the objects around his neck and extremities were drawn to the platform like magnets, leaving him on his back.

Oh, I don’t like where this is going.

The second man continued applying the wired things to various parts of his body as Zoey watched through cold eyes.

“Oh boy…”

*          *          *

Sherri watched Sam, hunched over, deep in thought, her heart racing.

“Sam, what should we–”

A blue light encased him.

What… no…

John jumped back. “Sam?!”

When the light subsided, Nexus Quinn jumped in his seat, and looked wildly at Sherri and Tim.

“What…? Oh… oh no,” he said, as it dawned on him where he was. Then, he jumped to his feet. “Wait, did you guys finish your mission?”

Sherri closed her hanging jaw, as she looked at John, who’s hand was on his forehead as he tried to come to terms with what had just happened.

“Sam just… left us?” He had a lost look in his eyes.

Oh my god, how? Why?

“We didn’t finish anything,” said Sherri, slapping the desk. “We’re right in the middle of it!”

Quinn’s eyes darted around the room. “Wait, I’ve been here before. Is my timer in here? Did you find it?”

“Not yet,” Sherri lamented. “We got your data crystal, but it’s already been copied to a remote server.”

Quinn grabbed at his hair, pacing. “Shit shit shit!”

He paused as he looked at Sherri’s tense face. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry all this happened, Sherri.”

Tim tugged at Sherri’s sleeve, and she turned to him, lip quivering.

“Um… what just happened?”

“Quinn came back. I don’t know where Sam is now.” She looked towards John, whose shock had turned into a grave determination.

“It’s all up to us now, I guess,” he choked out.

Sherri shared a look with him, as they both steeled their gaze. “We need to get to that Manta ship.”

She turned to Tim. “If nothing else, we can set them back, right?”

Tim nodded. “I… yeah. I’m with you to the end this time, Sherri.”

Quinn put a shaky hand on her shoulder. “Yeah, me too. Should’ve listened to you the first time.”

Sherri hurried to the door, and swung it open.

Oh, crap.

The commander stood in the doorway, staring intensely at them and aiming his blaster at Sherri.

“I told Kasyr we should have just done away with you,” he said, voice low and dark. “It appears she should have listened.”

Sherri’s blaster was in her hand, but she knew that if she tried to aim it, he’d shoot.

“Hey, ugly!” came John’s voice from behind the Kromagg. It was enough to split his attention for a precious second, as she raised her weapon.

But it was not long enough for her to aim.

As she realised her error, and as Commander Kerrick pulled his trigger, Nexus Quinn stepped between them, and the particle beam hit him in the stomach.

Running on pure instinct, Sherri fired a shot past Quinn, into the commander’s head.

Almost simultaneously, the Kromagg and Quinn hit the floor, as wisps of red-tinged smoke rose from their respective wounds.

“Oh my god…” said Sherri as the events finally registered in her mind as having happened.

Quinn’s face was pained as he gazed up at her.

“It really is out of my hands now, I guess…” he croaked. “You’d better get going. Finish this.”

Sherri’s eye blurred with tears.

“I don’t know how I’m going to, but I’ll do as much as I can, Quinn. I promise.”

In the corridor, John stood with a look of hopelessness.

How… how could Sam leave us and let this happen?

“Oh no…”

Sherri absolutely did not expect to hear a voice from behind her in the office, and she furthermore did not expect that voice to belong to a complete stranger, but as she spun around, she was met with a man she’d never seen before, staring down at Quinn with his mouth hanging open.

“Who the hell are you?”

*          *          *

Several Minutes Earlier
(Relative to Nexus Quinn)

John tapped on his wristlink, and the Waiting Room door slid open. Nexus Quinn, who John saw as Sam, regarded him with surprise, before his mind caught up with his eyes.

“Oh right, you must be John,” he said, rising from the sofa. “Double of the guy in the mirror, right?”

He waved a finger over his face. John nodded.

“You got it,” he said, with an awkward smile. “Your double asked me to check in with you.”

“That’s thoughtful,” Quinn said, as John approached. “What you got for me?”

“Well, Sam’s managed to get Sherri out of the aura disruption field, so she can be retrieved when the mission is…”

He trailed off, as Quinn lurched back, eyes wide.

“You okay?” John asked. Quinn straightened, an amazed smile drawn across his face.

“I… I did it!” He let out a laugh, and clutched John’s arm with a tight grip. “I’ve never forced myself to leap at will before. But it worked. I can’t believe it.”

John squinted. “Uhh, Sam?”

Sam nodded, letting out a breath.

John stepped back as a new memory came to him.

He abandoned us?

“Uh, Ziggy?” Sam called up to the ceiling. “Honey, I’m home.”

“Yes, I see that,” replied Ziggy’s terse voice. “Quite a bit earlier than I had anticipated. Why?”

“She raises a good question,” John said, eyes narrow.

I have to believe he has a good reason for this, he told himself, but it was hard to accept as the recalled feelings of Sam’s departure washed over him.

Sam ran a hand through his hair. “I need you to activate the new code.”

Ziggy was silent for a moment.

“You were clear earlier that I must only activate it if retrieval fails.”

“Change of plans,” he said, looking at John. “It’s okay, I’ve got it all worked out. Do this last thing for me, Ziggy.”

“Very well.”

“Thank you.”

The door opened, and Al stepped into the Waiting Room, frantic.

“John, Sam just leaped out and I don’t know wh–”

“It’s okay, Al, I’m right here.” Sam stepped towards him, and swept him into a hug. Al looked at John through the embrace with confusion.

“We didn’t retrieve you, did we?!”

Sam let go of him, chuckling. “Nope, I came here all by myself. Isn’t that neat?”

He shifted his gaze between John and Al for a moment. “Guys, I have to get to the warehouse, right now. I… think Rembrandt needs me.”

John exchanged a look with Al. “Sam, Rembrandt is…”

“Thames.” Sam winked. “I know. Take me to him.”

*          *          *

Red light on.

Thames clicked the button as Zoey emerged from her doorway, wearing a broad smile on her face.

“Good morning, Thames.”

Hoo boy, this can’t be a good sign.

“Well. You either had a double dose of your extra strength painkillers, or you’re about to cut a bitch. Which is it?”

“Which do you think?”

Ah, shit.

She held up her handlink, and tapped on it a couple of times, before sliding her finger slowly up the centre from the base. Thames’s body filled with a buzzing pain that slowly climbed in intensity as her finger rose against the handlink.

“Uh, you plan on telling me what I did?” Thames said, through clenched teeth, as his muscles tensed.

Zoey loomed over him, her eyes burning with hurt.

“Thames, do you know what they’re going to do to me when my second charge is found to be another traitor?”

She turned the pain up a little more, and he felt himself shaking as the fire raged in his veins.

“I’ve nothing left to lose. Either you start obeying me, or I might as well end you right here.” She leaned over him, casting her face in shadow. “But not before you suffer a great deal, of course.”

“I don’t know what… you’re talking about…” Thames spat out.

Zoey rolled her eyes, turning away from him and gesturing casually towards the camera.

“Your little signalling system had a design flaw: that of user error.”

Goddammit. Why the hell’d I trust these dorks to keep my secret?

“W-well…” he took a laboured breath, “it was worth a shot.”

Zoey lowered herself to the floor, with a wince. She moved her face close to his, turning down the pain.

“Listen to me,” she said in a low voice, eyes wide. “If you just pretend this indiscretion never happened, and continue your mission as instructed, we can both come out of this… intact.”

I’ve never seen her this desperate. I must have broken something in her.

“Gee, you make it sound so tempting. Almost makes me want to choose that instead of being tortured and killed. Almost.” He smirked at her, as her eyes twitched.

“Thames,” she continued, her voice losing her usually well-controlled temper, “don’t you dare fuck me over like this. What they’re going to do to me is a fate worse than death. Are you so swiss cheesed that you don’t know?”

Thames regarded her coolly. “Oh, I know.” He shot her a satisfied smile.

“But I guess Lothos taught me too well. I can’t seem to care.” He burst into laughter. “Torture me all you want, but it’ll never be enough, because I’m not the one you really want to hurt, am I? Must be tough seeing Alia every day and not even having her know you’re there. Unable to reach out and drive a knife into her. Seeing her hangin’ out and making friends while you can’t even walk without a handful of opiates.”

With gritted teeth, Zoey swiped a finger to the top of the handlink, and his body roared with searing pain. He could do nothing but scream.

And then the door opened.

The pain subsided, just a little, as Zoey stumbled back when she saw that two Sams had come in the door, with Alia close behind. And one of the Sams was looking her in the eye.

“Zoey, you look… even more angry than I remember,” he commented, before turning his attention to Thames. “I hear you’re a hacker. Want a job?”

“Uh… what?”

Sam crouched. “I’m offering you a chance to get out of here, but the only way this is gonna work is if you’re willing to do what’s right, no strings attached. Can you agree to that?”

He held a hand out. Thames looked back at him, screwing up his face.

“Dude, I’m like, in the middle of being tortured right now and you’re offering me a job?”

Sam glared at him like he was an idiot. “Just take my hand already.”

Thames glanced at Alia, who was looking on with wide eyes. She nodded to him.

Zoey let out a huff, and began raising the pain levels again.

Do what’s right, no strings attached?

He thought about Colin, and their time spent hacking for the greater good. He put himself in danger to help people he never knew back then; why not now?

As the roar and burning coursed through his body, he let go of the key fob, and reached his shackled hand to Sam.

“Okay, let’s do somethin’ good,” he laughed, and he landed his hand on Sam’s palm.

Together, they leaped, as Zoey screamed.