Avalon

•52•

Sound Of Your Past

*********************************

Hello, darkness, my old friend

I've come to talk with you again

Because a vision softly creeping

Left its seeds while I was sleeping

Nate's head was pounding heavily. His ears picked up some rustling far away but so far he couldn't sense anyone close. Which was what he aimed for. He knew that once his brain clears he'd figure out a way to stop the bad men even if it cost him his life.

He'd already made some deep listening and realized Noel was indeed here. Yet to see his own eyes but according to the machine he got himself here all fine. Possibly they'd made him use the chair like they always do because of the man constantly causing some shitshow just out of spite. And that he hated Federation and Fleet for treating him like a criminal he was no more. Nobody could do anything about that though. It was what it was. Nate was basically same but he avoided them as if the organization was plague.

Roland would kill him if he'd known that there were so many actual FBI agents. Even here they sort of adopted the title as it sounded matching. And they did just the ground investigations on planet. Everything regarding Fleet was dealt by someone else. But actually not a bad thing. If the locals that grew out of their short minds to learn about some other galactic disaster and what they could do to help then everyone else could too. Luckily this had been Federation outpost before it became Earth's colony and eventually the savior.

There was another planet that accepted Earthlings and that was Caprica Delta in Terra Libra system. It was somewhere in the space but within Federation limits. It was where they'd wanted to go before falling to their fates here. He was silently praying for everyone from their group that survived being there. He hoped his life could be better there. In the years since first space travels started the Caprica had been a hope since it was like Earth and quite appropriate for living. And there already was some life in the form of humanoids which eventually turned out to be some bunch of stranded scientists that somehow managed to survive some error in their expedition transport somewhere else. Obviously some astronauts that were counted as dead on Earth for many decades did survive some weird shit and found themselves on this remote planet that was in fact livable. And that meant they grew into a whole civilization until somebody found them by accident and now it was all colonized and included into whatever was the main thing in space these days.

But there were legends of some even earlier space travelers that were called MIA somewhere in Bermuda Triangle. And when he looked that up his mind literally flipped so hard. Holy shit, he'd thought. There could easily been a whole planet lost in that unfortunate natural phenomenon and nobody the wiser. Which he believed was the truth. After all wormholes existed in the space like other weird crap only at the time official channels of science weren't there yet in their exploration and research. It happened underground hence the sudden shock and shipping out human flesh that fast.

n But then he thought maybe that's where he won't be welcomed because Federation still could be after him. And second thing was the logistics and stuff. His lungs kept reminding him of his unfortunate plan to steal all the hovercraft money folks brought to yard and sell them for good money. Good enough to pay the medical procedure and have fresh lungs for a while. Maybe until Narcho goes back to ringer. After that he might just die happy.

However it seemed Roland had some plans and his own plan may suffer.

And what the actual fuck the man had been talking about? What guy looked like him enough to send the old scumbag off the kilter so much? Those were the chaotic thoughts of a man who had been through a rock and a hard place before.

The beat in his head grew stronger as the seconds ticked into minutes. And his hands got tired from being tied together for so long. Except Nate had no clue how exactly it was. They just left him on the cold floor and walked away probably hoping he'd die on his own. He knew Roland adored violence but wasn't too much into killing. His little mistresses were though.

So he started to formulate some escape plan. He knew the building by now, he could mildly connect with some digital parts of the system that ran the house. He knew and sensed wiring inside the walls and could command the floor's power and controls. However he couldn't tell exactly functions of the panel he found nearby. His brain kept clouding over the more he tried to reach it. But he could try and switch the lights off. It could throw the men and help him through shadows to escape.

Only he could barely keep his eyes open by now. His consciousness was slipping and he knew something wasn't right with his head. And the voices were coming back so he just let himself slip in that midway where he couldn't react but was still aware. It's been his savior many times so why not to try escape another beating session.

After a while there voices got really close so Nate deduced they'd come back.

"Hey, R, this boy's like dead or something? He's not even breathing much." A voice he'd only heard from afar asked. He couldn't tell what they were doing exactly which was a good thing for his autonomous reactions.

"Nah, just playing possum probably. Kick y'em in da side and see." Man replies and started puttering about.

"Yo, man, not happenin'. He's like dead. Ya kill 'im?" The accent guy kept pushing. "Ain't it fair, ya said no harm. I wan' no harm 'cause we need 'im. Ya promised!"

"Yer ol' douche, said he's okay. 'Sides no harm done if he jollied us to those fat heads. They'd be just happy to tail on us until we down. Not doin' that. Gotcha?" Roland made his point and kicked something that only moment later registered was most likely Nate's limp unresponsive body.

"Nah, man, not taking shite. Yer givin' 'im back to his homeboys. Me not takin' this shite to my door, is that clear? I paid fer shite so stuff it. "

Responsive grumble told the man was irritated by the other guy and possibly contemplated to get him killed to run with the money. Like, what? If that was the current mood then what chance he had? He'd be dead anyway so it's about time.

He waited for the clander-banger to dissipate once more. However he almost actually got heart attack when a voice who's steps he missed returning started to speak.

"Buddy, I don't know you, I didn't even know you were here. But I wanna tell you I'm sorry. If you hear me, I'm an agent, deeply undercover for months to take this group down. I am from Earth, like you probably too. And I have seen your face on the wanted walls here and on Earth. However I don't think the man I saw back there is the same I saw here not right now. I wish you were in better shape because this is kinda hard to think of yet another death by that hand. He's killed before and my fellow agents. But if you are still there and kicking somewhere I'll cut your ties so you can escape. From a snippet I caught I believe they did a number on you. But the way you sound I'd say it's something deeper than that." He heard the man do some rustling sounds and snapping before realizing he meant that. The stranger was freeing Nate for just in case he could wake up and move. And before he gathered a second opinion the guy had taken him up in his arms and was carrying him somewhere. "I can tell you're injured badly but help is too far. And I can't do much here. I wish you luck. And in case you survive this just come looking for me. Look for Agent Wells. They'd know what to do. " the man finished with "Good luck kid." And was gone with the winds.

Nate laid there still dazed enough to struggle for his consciousness. But after a moment he managed to actually open his eyes. He was in the shadowed corner above the ground. Probably the tubes. He let his body rest some and soak in the shadow energy. It was something he learned how to do when all his cards were dealt. And by the looks it helped this time around too.

In restless dreams I walked alone

Narrow streets of cobblestone

'Neath the halo of a street lamp

I turned my collar to the cold and damp