I wonder if it is possible to become used to living like this.
Many units pass in which we simply wait to get from one place to another, during which time only a few vaguely interesting things may happen and which are generally spaced out.
Less than ten auxes on Meneleo and I can only just keep up with all that has happened.
Firstly, we received some exceptionally good news.
Five human beings were on the station.
All recently released from their contracts and awaiting a chance to get to Virrion.
None of which were particularly happy to see me.
Fortunately three of those souls were people that both Bernard and I had worked alongside at the cinema and, although none of them had ever been particularly close, their reunion was borderline joyous.
We had no warning that they were even on the station, they were simply waiting for us with an officer in the docking bay when we landed.
Tyler Weaver, Albert Newman (both from the cinema) and Jarvis Lawson (I had met him when he had done his Duke of Edinburgh award at the charity shop) all completely blanked me as we disembarked.
Eugene Hodge, however, came straight towards me and slapped me as hard as he possibly could, across my left cheek.
I saw it coming, as soon as I saw his face I knew that he would likely try to make an attempt at physical violence.
I could have stopped him.
I chose not to.
Ishni and Culpin both showed signs of wanting to move forward to stop him, however I had made them promise to only intervene after a certain point, I could handle a palm to the cheek, not to mention, deservingly so.
Eugene had been a very close friend of Leo Wilkinson, one of the three whose body had not been recovered from the wreckage of the Screnac.3.
One of the earliest exchanges between myself and Ven, had been concerning the events at the time when the ships had been abducted.  It showed me the footage that had been captured of the moments that I wished to see the least.  However, without seeing it for myself, parts of my brain were not letting myself believe it.
The majority of humanity had been thrown into cells in the hub, each of which had a taucil waiting for them.  They were then shown a live video of the captain with the three people that had been taken from the Screnac.3 and the crew aiming batons directly at each of the captives’ heads.
“You have been saved,” Nesutten’s voice resounded through the Venanth-Nepha, “yet I have been told that very few of you are showing us the gratitude that we deserve.  I shall state this as simply as I can; unless all of you, that are able, place the devices that you will find in your cells upon your wrists and complete your new contracts, I will be taking the lives of the men in front of you.  You all have one lal to comply.”
“Now wait just a minute!” Leo’s voice came out loudly and unfortunately cocksure, even the way that he moved his arms and bobbed his head had a slight swagger to them, “there’s obviously been some huge mistake here.  There’s no need for empty threats or intimi-“
He was cut off mid-sentence by a blast of plasma impacting with the back of his head.
Despite the fact that his cranium was caved in from behind, Ishni has informed me that telekinesis was applied to his face to stop any matter from splattering forwards.  Little mess was made, however Leo’s face was distorted beyond recognition.
Tony Reynolds and Paul Rosa had completely, and understandably, freaked out.  Both men had particularly confrontational characteristics and, upon witnessing their companion’s demise, their fight-over-flight reactions kicked in.
Swearing and swinging they attempted to attack their captors.
They were both put down in the same manor with a nod from Nesutten.
“Well that works to,” his voice sounded amused, “Hoejo, bring up three more and we’ll try again.”
However before the first mate had even made it down to the nearest cells, all but seven taucil were registered as contracted.  The final few were to distraught or hysterical to understand what was going on and required “assistance” in having them secured to their wrists.
I had somehow managed to keep the contents of my stomach in until making it to the nearest toilet.
I had felt them, back on Kenglowe I experienced the micro-moment of pain that each of them felt before their lives were permanently snubbed out.
Nesutten had given the order and three beings that I have no knowledge of fired the batons, however the weight of their deaths falls upon my shoulders.
An opinion that most humans share, most particularly, Eugene.
It was clear, to all but himself, that he had been in love with Leo.  If the rumour mill was to be believed, he even managed to “comfort” him a little during his meltdown when Amelia rejected him.
However, regardless of what relationship they had in the end, Leo was someone that Eugene cared for deeply and, through the chain of events that everyone was inescapably familiar with, I was the reason that he had died there and then, in that way.
As the palm of his hand collided with my cheek, knocking my glasses askew and twisting my face to the side, I allowed his emotions to flow into me.
Pure rage and frustration radiated out of him in waves.
Had we met alone, I know he would have tried to do a lot worse, the passion for inflicting pain upon me burned fiercely.
My vision blurred as tears filled my right eye.  Being tall and well-built, with a generous dosage of malice, left the sensation behind even after the medi-bots had done their job.
It took several moments for me to be able to drag my eyes up from the ground to meet his glare.
We stared one another down.
Even though his hatred was more than justified, he had to know that, ultimately, I was in charge.  I feel that, given the chance, he could yet do some sort of mischief towards me or, failing me, a member of the crew.
His face twitched and convulsed, words forming on his lips, then disappearing before he could give his voice to them.
I met his frustration and anger with as blank an expression as I could muster.
My body was relaxed, hands loose at my side, breathing slow, deep and even.
For almost a full lal we held that pattern.
With an aggressively exaggerated sigh he rolled his eyes, shook his head and stalked off through the nearest door.
As it closed behind him, I finally allowed the tremor that I had been desperately suppressing, to release into my hands.
I raised one to my cheek, tentatively testing the raw sensation that coated the surface area.  Opening my mouth, I discovered that my breathing seemed to be shuddering as much as my hands were.
I pushed the excess waves of energy out around my wrist, stretching out my scrunchy, so that it slid over my hand, to where I could fiddle with it midair.
Closing my eyes, I focused on bringing my breathing back into check.
When I opened them, I found myself face to face with Tao Xun.
The only way that I knew him was as the delivery driver for the Chinese takeaway payday binge that Amelia and I usually indulged in.
“Laura MacPhaid, may I speak with you?” the words he spoke were in mandarin, a language that I had no knowledge of whatsoever, so was relieved to discover that it was a dialect that was covered by the translators, despite there being only two people alive who actually spoke it, only one of which was as a first language, “You may call Tao, I want to extend an official greeting now that I have the opportunity.”
“Of course,” my face relaxed into my ‘customer service’ smile as I discovered his lack of violent intent, “are you alright?  I’m sorry that we didn’t get here sooner.”
He shook his head, “all is well here.  We were luckier than most.  They’ve treated us better than most companies would have back on earth.  This place is run very, “by the book”.  Their dedication to upholding the law is, quite frankly astounding.  The way that they treat criminals is harsh, however all are offered the opportunity for redemption.”
My smile grew from pretense to warmth.
“You want to stay here.”
He smiled awkwardly at the statement, “I feel like I’m making a difference here, I’ve even made a few friends.”  His head dipped a little, “there’s no-one waiting for me on Virrion or Rapture.  I wish to remain where I am beginning to belong.”
I nodded, “naturally, I understand completely.  I’m relieved that you've been doing well and will continue to do so.  I fear that there will be few cases like yours,” the last was said as though I was simply thinking out loud.
He bowed, an indication that our conversation was over, which I mimicked with respect to his decision.
As he walked away, he called back over his shoulder, “I want to tell you that it’s not your fault, but I know you won’t believe me and you’re penance will bring you to great things.”
And with that he disappeared through the same door that Eugene had.
Straightening myself, I considered his words.  He was right that I wound not believe him, however it did make me wonder how events would have played out had I not taken the burden upon myself.
I suspect I would have gone to Virrion and isolated myself until the guilt had passed or I had been forced into society by whoever got fed up with my lack of interaction, or I might have gone to Rapture with Phillip and taken up whatever random job that I was capable of.  In both cases, I would have simply left the fate of humanity to someone else, to someone who cares more, as I always had done.
I like to think that I would have acted as I have been, however I cannot bring myself to believe it.
The past me was more than content to simply let the world pass by without playing an active part in what happened to it.
I concluded that such thoughts were irrelevant and assigned the endless possibilities to the back of my mind, to be used a fodder for the stories that I entertain myself with when I have too much on my mind and a need to escape my own head.
Bernard approached me before I could reach where the others were standing.
“They’ll come back with us after we’ve finished transferring the prisoners, so they can say their goodbyes and collect themselves.”
I glanced over to where they were stood, only catch their cheeks as they turned their heads away from me.
“Fair enough,” was the only reply that I could give him, “let them know that we’ll send them messages an auxe before we leave.”

It was several minutes before we received word from the officers restricting our access to the station that we finally got the go ahead to enter the public wards.
Culpin lead the way to the administration offices where we were introduced to our Geidon Rirtrin, the alive that would be our liaison during any visits to Meneleo.
It’s body had the shape of a primate, hands on its feet as well as its arms and a tail that had interchangeable appendages, however it was at least six feet tall.  Instead of any kind of face, it had a holographic display that would alternate between sound waves and information supporting what it was saying.
Its voice was barely indistinguishable from Ven’s, there appears to be a neutral gender voice setting that most alives have as standard.
It took a little while to convince myself that it was not actually Ven that I was speaking to as, every now and again, I would find myself talking to it as though we were familiar, which it did not seem to appreciate.
The areas that we passed through were all very open and white, flat walls with no notches that could be hidden behind in the case of an escaping inmate.  There was a little colour here and there; a few vines appeared to be woven into the walls in a few places as well as a few thin glass fountains.
Shops, cafes and hotels were labeled simply with black and grey lettering.  The only places to sit were completely see-through and not particularly comfortable.  There were, however, a few lounge areas for visitors with specific access or purpose, such as bounty hunters, legal council, former inmates awaiting their transportation home, officers, both thulai and Community, station staff members, and so on.
The insides of the administration offices were just as bright, causing the light sensitivity that remained in my right eye to start developing a headache.
One D.N.A. sample, a 3D picture and new chip installation later and we were already on our way back to the Venanth-Nepha to begin the transfers.
The five former crew members that we subdued were to be collected by Community officers who would escort us on board due to the high profile nature of their crimes.  That was to come once the outstanding prisoner transfers had been dealt with.

And so began the tedious back and forth between the Venanth-Nepha and Meneleo.
Some of the prisoners talked our ears off whilst others remained stoically silent.  They all seemed to be completely aware of the change in management, not to mention being aware of who I was and all the public information that was available to back up that knowledge.  A few of them tried to spit out spiteful comments in mine and Bernard’s direction, in an attempt to get some sort of reaction.  I feel that it may have been a long time since they had had any kind of verbal interaction and those that felt like it, were giving it their best shot at getting a heated back and forth going.
Having been blessed with an inordinate amount of patience and the fact that everything they said was all information that I already knew and tormented myself with, I was able to keep myself from being baited.
The same could not be said for Bernard.
His temperament caused him to react to the majority of the barbs that were thrown at him.
It took some rather tactfully worded commands from Ishni to calm him down on several occasions.
Rather spectacularly, the bounties that we collected cumulatively turned out to be enough to keep Ven running for a few cycles as well as keeping Tallou very happy.
The plan that I had, was for twenty percent of the credits to be sent to Virrion for development investments, ten percent to be allotted to the mission, ten percent to equipment and cost of living and then a final ten percent to be put aside for emergencies such as unscheduled F.T.L. jumps and trips through the Hylanx.
The remaining fifty percent was to be shared between crew members as their cut.
We had all sat down and decided on as much as one of the first acts as an official crew.
Whilst we were undergoing the super-fun transfers, Deia, Desmosa and Tallou went about the task of restocking, not only food and fuel, but various luxury items; cosmetics and clothing and bits requested by the passengers.
Orthus remained with Ven to keep our passengers company.

We disembarked the shuttle onto Meneleo for the final time, with our final transfer in tow.
Rame Niaares was a hlorsiené who had been convicted of mass embezzlement from the company that he had lost a contract with.
From the moment that we opened the door to his cell, he began to protest his innocence.  As we ignored his pleas, he turned to muttering at an inaudible level.
Having sent out messages that we would not be returning to Meneleo after that shuttle trip, a end was finally in sight for the tedium of the yo-yoing.
In the shuttle bay, a group of humans waited, all too eager to get back on board.
We were to take Rame straight to the processing department, access to which was provided by a lift just beyond the docking bay.
The closer we moved to the lift doors, the quieter our captive seemed to get.
The moment that we came to a stop and Culpin reached out to call the capsule, the unit, which had been running with a false sense of security, fell apart.
In an instant, Rame had crouched low, sticking his tail out behind him and his arms out in front.  With one almost imperceivable movement, he had knocked the feet out front under Bernard, Culpin, Ishni and myself.
Ishni and I managed to stay upright by pushing ourselves away from the ground that we were headed for with our telekinesis.  Bernard and Culpin had nothing to halt their fall and wound up sprawled on the ground.
As Ishni and I righted ourselves, Bernard kicked himself up from his shoulders to stand.
By the time we had relocated Rame, he already had Eugene by the neck and a baton pressed against the side of his head.