My Violent Heart

Part 3

Jessup couldn't move a muscle. She just kept staring up at the figure which loomed over her, looking down at her. Even though it didn't have a face, Jessup knew it was looking at her again. She was staring back, but saw nothing as there was nothing to see. It wasn't just dark underneath its hood, it was an infinite blackness, as though it was a great, empty space into which no light could enter. She could feel its cold, feel its age.

The King in Rags. She didn't know where she got that thought from, but she knew that it was true. This was the King in Rags. There was nothing and no-one else it could possibly be. She didn't even know who or what the King in Rags was; she just knew that this was he. She had never been so certain of anything else in her life.

 "Jessup? What are you looking at?" Butcher had finally noticed that Jessup was gawping into space and grabbed her shoulder, giving her a shake. Jessup didn't seem to notice.

 "What's wrong with her?" Howard asked. His anger left and he seemed to deflated somewhat, concern creasing his face.

 "Look at her eyes..." Butcher said, quietly. Jessup's eyes were widely dilated; bloodshot and staring.

 The King in Rags turned his head away from Jessup and she found herself able to move again, falling backwards into the surprised arms of Butcher who caught her before she hit the ground. Jessup still couldn't stop watching, however, as the King in Rags moved to face the Navigation Network. He raised a long, painfully slender arm which quivered under the weight of his robes and pointed with the end of the sleeve at the Network, which started screaming again.

 "Get away from it!" Howard said. No-one needed to be told this, and most had already scrambled away. The Wetware strained against their restraints as they mindlessly wailed; emaciated bodies stretched taut with effort.

 "Someone sedate them or something!" Howard said, since no-one else was offering anything.

 "They are sedated..." Ford – a Wetware specialist – said. He was looking even more pale than usual. Howard looked from the retching, sweating bodies on the Network and back to Ford.

 "What?!"

 "I sedated them before we opened up the Network, it's standard procedure. They shouldn't be able to move a muscle."

 "Well they are! Sedate them again!" Howard said.

 "But that could damage their-" Ford started but Howard cut him off.

 "We have spares! Sedate them!"

 There was a moment or two when Ford and Howard looked each other in the eye before Ford remember that, technically, Howard outranked him if Shinfield wasn't present. Giving the tiniest of shrugs he headed back to his station and set about his controls. The Wetware continued to gurgle and writhe, smacking their heads against their restraints, tendons standing out like steel cables beneath their pallid skin.

 Jessup meanwhile had been helped back to her seat by Butcher, who was now knelt beside her. Jessup was gripping her co-worker's hand so tightly as if she was afraid that letting go might see her fly out of the ship.