Sacrifices

Chapter 4: Vengeance

As they approached the Prydwen, Jackie's anxiety increased. She fidgeted in her seat and a tremor shook her leg. The uneasy, sickly feeling in her gut only intensified the closer they got. A tense, numbness seeped through her skin and settled into her muscles as she ground her teeth together.

Her dishwater blond hair, like the gritty sand on the ocean shore, escaped from her bun and whipped in her face while she tried to focus on the task at hand. As the airship drew closer, Jackie had no way of knowing what awaited her aboard. Geers had been given permission to dock without incident or question, a good sign, but uncertainty was chewing away at her nerves and sound judgement. Scenarios played out in her mind, but all of them ended badly, she didn't know how they would make it out of this unscathed.

The Prydwen loomed ahead as they made their final landing approach. The now rising sun reflected off the steel exterior of the starboard side like a giant, glittering mirror. The intense light blinded her and she rubbed her mismatched eyes. Danse had stared for an entire minute when she had first appeared in the courtyard of the police station. As if she was some anomaly in a roadside freak show. She had been born with blue eyes, but had suffered a rare eye condition in childhood that nearly blinded her and caused the darkening of the brown pigment in her right iris.

At first, when Danse had given Jackie the order that they were to join Maxson on the Prydwen, she had adamantly refused to go. Saying that she wasn't going to fall victim to a massive fireball in the sky. Because the Hindenburg had worked out so well before.

The former Paladin demanded, ordered and made all kinds of threats, even told her she would be tried for desertion if she just up and quit. Jackie respectfully gave him the one finger salute and told him to go fuck himself for all she cared. She wasn't getting on that floating balloon disguised as a ticking hydrogen bomb. Jackie made it about halfway to the door before Danse effortlessly hauled her over his shoulder and dragged her, kicking and screaming and making right scene of herself up to the roof of the police station.

When they made it to the rooftop, Danse tossed her in the vertibird and reprimanded her for her undignified behavior before warning her to watch her mouth and get control of herself before they docked. There would be consequence if she embarrassed him. Jackie just cursed and continued her shouting. What was he going to do? Throw her overboard?

Jackie yelled and cursed and insulted Danse's linage the entire flight. Upon their arrival, her outburst continued, so Danse slung her over his shoulder again and dumped her at Kells' feet, saying she was his problem now before storming off. She shut up real quick when the Lancer-Captin yanked her up by the collar of her jumpsuit and raked her over the coals for her unprofessional conduct. Danse didn't scare her, she had become accustomed to that scowl by now, but she was quite certain that Kells would make good on his promise to toss her over the railing if she didn't straighten up and fall in line.

After careful review of the airship's schematics and blueprints, Jackie had begrudgingly agreed to continue operating from the zeppelin. Against her better judgement, she even made her bed here now and dared to call it home.

The jolt of the vertibird docking knocked Jackie back to reality. She stood and warily slid out of the aircraft, her boots unceremoniously hitting the deck. Docked in the bay across from them, sat the vertibird that ran the shuttle between the Prydwen and airport. The Lancer on duty roamed the decks and Jackie didn't miss the strange look the pilot gave her.

It only fueled the uneasiness and the growing tightness in her chest. She didn't like this.

The clang of metal against metal drew Jackie's attention to the door that held the gateway to the bowels of the ship. Someone had just breached the hull. Slow and steady. One foot in front of the other, she made her way along the deck. The tightly wound knot in her belly urged her run after whoever entered before her, but she forced herself to walk.