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December 17, 2022

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Severin stared at the large information screen as the timer counted down to 08:00 station time. She was standing to the side of the crowd gathered below it, not wanting to mingle with the people as they shoved for position.

 

Unconsciously she held her breath. As the timer hit zero, the first job posting popped up; Luxury liner baggage handling, nine spots, Docking bay Bravo.


A group of people closest to docking bay Bravo peeled away from the crowd and made a run fur it. Those used to station life and its .5 gravity showed off their skills as they moved in leaps, leaving the rest to catch up for the remaining spots.

 

All for another day of work, filtered oxygen, some food, water and a bit of cash in hand, survive a bit longer.

 

As Severin focussed back on the crowd, she saw hands changing money, people being shuffled around, and experts in specific fields being boxed in and cut off from their possible jobs. It was a free for all, and everybody knew it.

 

Once, space had been called the final frontier. Now it was called the desperate frontier as people had to fight every day just for oxygen.


The desperate faces reminded her of why she was here, Severin took a quick breath from her oxygen mask. Station air was breathable but barely; extended exposure led to all kinds of health problems.


As more jobs kept appearing on the screen, more people disappeared into the maze that was Gateway station. As the crowd thinned, she spotted her target.


He was standing at the edge, just like her, scanning faces and body language.


Just as always, people would be left without work, the weak, the old and the naive. Another day of lousy air for them and Government hand-out rations, just enough to keep you from dying.

 

Severin picked her path through the crowd, passing empty eyes and hopeless, sagging bodies as the reality of the day sank in.


As she moved, she adjusted her step and let her shoulders sag as well, eyes downcast. Just another person to ignore for everybody.


She observed her target as he moved to a young boy, maybe twenty, but low gravity made guessing ages harder. He showed signs of malnutrition and time spent in the high radiation zones of the station.

 

She watched as her target subtly moved into the boy's personal space and offered him a breath from his Oxygen mask. The boy took it without thinking, sucking in the air. Severin moved with the breaths, side stepping, half crawling. With tears in his eyes, the boy looked up at the beautiful man, pleading for more. Severin smiled to herself; she was in arms reach now.


“You want a job?” the boy just nodded to the question, no doubt in his mind. An ice-cold hand firmly gripped Severin by the throat as she heard the beautiful man's voice again after so long. She would never forget the voice, the honey dripping from the words.


Had she been just as desperate as the boy?

 

The beautiful man pulled a terminal from his pocket and shoved a contract under the boy's nose, the boy didn’t even look at it; he just pressed his skinny thumb to the screen and grappled for more clean air.


Severin waited for her target to focus on his hands, let the boy have one more breath, she thought. Then she moved, thumb ready, eyes down. Hoping the man be so arrogant.


She should not have worried; the monster enjoyed his job, and he might even believe he was helping people.


He pulled the oxygen mask from the boy and held it in front of her face along with the terminal. She pressed her thumb against it and waited for the screen to turn green. The Collectors were already moving among the crowd; this was it. She would have her revenge.

 

As he stepped over Severin to his next victim, she grabbed his ankle “Recognize me?” Her voice was cold and dark, just like she wanted.


Now that he looked at her he could only stare, stunned, just able to shake his head in denial. Surprise and wonder were evident in his eyes; what was happening?


“Monster, you imprisoned me eight years ago with your contract. That is a death sentence.” She pointed with her free hand at the terminal he was holding.


“But I escaped the mines of Pluto. I escaped, and now you will taste my vengeance.” With her teeth, she tore the fake fingerprint from her thumb and unlocked her terminal. Severin pushed the code for the Collectors that she had found a criminal. It was still unclear to the beautiful man what was happening.


“I was wearing your fingerprints. You just signed your own contract, you animal.” She let her anger and hate flow out with her words. Eight years of forced labour, eight years of planning, hustling, and manoeuvring, until she had been able to stow away on a transport with a friendly captain. Another year to land a job as a freelance sleuth and another to find the bastard who had done this to her.


Finally, it started to dawn on the man what was happening. The contract was an admission of guilt - not an actual contract - for stealing oxygen and food supplies from station control. Punishment: Life and hard labour in the Government Mines of Pluto.


The beautiful man would be filling his own quota this time, knowing full well Government would process the paperwork and send him on his way with no appeal.

 

She finally let go when the Collectors picked him up from the ground, goons in black uniforms and face masks; they gave her a slight nod and transferred credits to her terminal before hauling him and the boy away. Nothing she could do for the boy, but he would be the beautiful man's last victim.

Copyright 2023 - SFS Publishing LLC

Collected

Only one punishment could compensate

Michael Landwaard

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