"You'll get yours, Fan. Sooner than you think."

<><><>As Xiao Li regains consciousness, she discovers herself bound to the bed of Li Mei’s shuttle (it appears that companions have to be prepared for a variety of client experiences), without her cortex goggles, or anything else, aside from her clothing. After a few seconds it becomes apparent that the shuttle is not attached to Raven, but is flying on it’s own. From forward, the sound of a self-satisfied humming drifts out of the cockpit.<><><>

Xiao Li Marshall tugs at the restraints, gently at first, but with increasing urgency.

Fan Newall calls back from the cockpit when she hears the movements. "Morning, sleepy head!"

Xiao Li Marshall: FAN! You houzi de pigu! What the hell do you think you're doing?!

Fan Newall pokes her head into the rear cabin. "Right now? I'm flying. Probably better than you."

Xiao Li Marshall thrashes against her bonds, cursing a blue streak. “You are gonna DIE for this, you hear me??”

Fan Newall ducks back into the cockpit to check the controls and then comes back into the cabin and stands just a few feet from Xiao Li. "Don't struggle so, jie jie. You might damage yourself."

Xiao Li Marshall: You're gonna BEG for a slave-master's whip by the time I get done with you!

Fan Newall smiles thinly. "Big talk from a girl who's tied down. I suppose I understand why you're so upset. This keeps you from doing what you're best at. Running away!"

Xiao Li Marshall lets out a feral growl as she looks up at Fan. “Whad'you think you're gonna gain from this? Advancement? A place in the mansion as Rohan's latest sex toy? Another cunt for him to use up and kill when she gets inconvenient?? WHY THE HELL ARE YOU HELPING HIM?!”

Fan Newall spits on Xiao Li and snarls viciously. "I'm gonna gain my freedom, that's why! You think I'd consider being a slave-master's slut? -advancement-?" Fan narrows her eyes. "Why do you think I wanted to be like you, hmm? Do you think it was because I admired the one who ran away and left me behind? Keep dreaming. It was because I had to make myself useful as something other than a faceless cunt! I had to learn to hack and repair their machines so they'd stop raping me! What other good could a young female slave be in a mine? I couldn't keep up with the hard laborers..."

Xiao Li Marshall shakes her head. "You think they're gonna let you go if you bring me back? YOU'RE the one who's dreaming."

Fan Newall grins. "I'm not as small minded as you've become since you left, big sister. I'm not giving you back to them myself. I'm giving you back to somebody else who will return you to the mining colony. The price on you is higher than my value as a slave. The one who returns you will be more than able to pay for me with the reward, and then he'll keep the difference."

Xiao Li Marshall: So you're gonna go be a slave for someone else, is that it?

Fan Newall: No. He'll pay the mining colony what they think I'm worth, so they won't have a claim on me anymore, but he won't have a claim on me either. Terms of the agreement.

Xiao Li Marshall: An' we all know how much an agreement with a slaver is worth. You got in that mine same way I did, remember? Somebody promisin' you work on the Rim, gettin' away from the slums on the border worlds... That worked out GREAT, didn't it?

Fan Newall shrugs. "I can't just let things stay the way they are. You got out and left me behind. Now it's time for me to look out for number one. Sorry."

Xiao Li Marshall 's expression softens for a moment. "If there was any way to get anyone else out, you know I would have, mei mei."

Fan Newall walks over and begins rummaging idly through the companion's things. "Yes, I'm sure you would've. You and your friends on Raven are just one big pack of do-gooders, huh? Fat lot of good it's done you."

Xiao Li Marshall says nothing, but shifts in her bonds, trying to find a weak point or a way to work loose.

<><><>Xiao Li hears the signal of the comm, a wave transmission; incoming. Fan disappears forward to the cockpit to take the call. After Fan talks her way past the administrative assistant, Xiao Li hears the slow and deliberate voice of an older man with a Chezk accent. With an almost grand-fatherly demeanor, there is a sinister determination conveyed by the crime-lord Adelai Niska.<><><>

Xiao Li Marshall goes pale. "Wo de tian a..." She thrashes harder against her restraints.

Fan Newall calls into the cabin during a brief lull in the conversation. "I told you, no struggling, jie jie! Mister Niska doesn't deal in damaged goods! Besides... I grew up in a slave labor mining colony. You think I don't know how to tie somebody up?"

Xiao Li Marshall: “An' I got OUT of a slave labor colony, by my own-self. What does that tell you?” She flexes her wrists, trying to work the knot to a point where she can grab it between her fingers...

Fan Newall comes back out of the cockpit smiling, with a bounce in her step. "Hey, Xiao! You'll be happy to know you're worth a whole 600!"

Xiao Li Marshall: So little? Business must be slow for ol' Wallace.

Fan Newall frowns, seeing that Xiao Li has made some progress on her ropes. "If I were Wallace, I wouldn't want you back that bad either. But I don't need him to pay a fortune for you. I only need him to pay more for you than he'd pay for me."

Xiao Li Marshall: Well, congratulations. Too bad you ain't gonna live to collect.

Fan Newall goes through Li Mei's things until she finds one of the swords that the companion owns. She hefts it in her hand and gives it a couple of graceless swings. She's got no formal training, but she's got a sure hand and enough sense to know that the sharp end goes into your opponent. "Fancy whore's got some good taste in blades. Now you quit wiggling, or I'm gonna give you a neat new air hole. I gotta tie you down better..."

Xiao Li Marshall: You want me dead or not? Make up your gorram mind.

Fan Newall shushes Xiao Li like a child. "I want the same thing you wanted years ago. I want you to walk out of my life for good. But this time, we're gonna be on opposite sides of the slaver's fence." She holds the point of the sword against Xiao Li's side, pushing just enough to cause distinct discomfort through the pilot's clothes as she uses her other hand to tug at the ropes, repositioning them on Xiao Li's wrists. She gives Xiao Li a rough poke for good measure as she leans down and uses her teeth to hold one end of the knot and her free hand to pull it painfully tight.

Xiao Li Marshall abruptly rears up, heedless of the sword cutting through her, and bites at Fan's ear.

Fan Newall yells and curses loudly as she feels Xiao Li's teeth pierce the skin and cartilage of her ear. She resists the urge to bolt upright and damage her ear further while it's stuck between Xiao Li's teeth. Instead she gives the sword a firm push, piercing through Xiao Li's clothing and into the flesh between her ribs. She stops when she feels the razor sharp point strike the pilot's ribs. She doesn't want to go through to her chest and major organs. "LET. ME. GO!"

Xiao Li Marshall growls again, not moving an inch.

Fan Newall struggles to slow her frantic breathing down and regain control of the situation. The pain blossoming out from her ear and the glaze of hot tears in her eyes are clouding her concentration, but she takes two deep breaths and decides it's now or never. All at once, she jerks her arm back, freeing the sword from Xiao Li's side. She doesn't have the skills or wrist coordination to bring it around with any precision, so she just holds it out behind her and away from Xiao Li as she abruptly straightens out her waist to stand back up, howling with pain as she leaves Xiao Li with a mouthful of skin, a bit of cartilage, and a trickle of blood. Stumbling back a few steps, she finally regains her footing. With her free hand on her bleeding ear and the sword held out rigidly in front of her with one shaking hand, she glares at Xiao Li. "You... you bit me! You bitch!"

Xiao Li Marshall spits out the piece of ear. “You know it. That's how *I* kept from bein' ‘another faceless cunt.’ By being the meanest chusheng xai-jiao de xiang huo in the mine.”

<><><>As the proximity alarm sounds from the flight controls, Fan once again disappears forward. Some time later, after a rather clumsy docking, the shuttle is quiet and Fan returns to the cabin.<><><>

Fan Newall returns to the cabin after the docking, which -she- thinks was flawless. She glances at the lost bits of her ear splat unceremoniously against the fine rug that Li Mei has used to cover the shuttle's cold floor. "There's different kinds of mean, jie jie. You're just stupid and ornery. I'm crafty, and a little bit cold. Looks like today, my brand of mean trumps yours." She goes over to the airlock hatch to await the arrival of the folks who will take XIao Li off her hands and carry Fan one step closer to freedom.

Xiao Li Marshall mutters quietly, "You'll get yours, Fan. Sooner than you think."

<><><>Fan opens the hatches to the airlock and three large and heavily armed Sky-Plex guards enter the shuttle. One of them frisks Fan, and then escorts her out of the shuttle.<><><>

Fan Newall grins and waves a cheerful goodbye to Xiao Li as she's escorted out.

<><><>The other two guards untie Xiao Li, and with professional efficiently, handcuff her and put a sack over her head. She feels herself pulled to her feet and marched through a series of halls with twists and turns before being forced into a room where her cuffs are linked to an overhead suspension point. The sack is removed from her head, and through a doorway she can see Fan and an older gentleman sitting at a desk, deep in conversation.<><><>

Xiao Li Marshall writhes and snarls like a mad alley cat all the way, but can't break the guards' grip.

Fan Newall leans slightly forward and leans on the table with a hint of a smile on her lips. "Perhaps you would be kind enough to refuel my shuttle, so I can leave here. You have what you want, and she and I have said our goodbyes."

Niska: “I see great promise in you, you did not cheat Wallace, but bought your freedom. You are solid. Here is how to contact me, let me know when you are able to work for me. My boys will help you with your shuttle.”

Fan Newall grins broadly. "Thank you, sir. You'll be hearing from me soon, I'm sure."

Fan Newall is led back to Li Mei's shuttle... her shuttle... to await her departure.

Xiao Li Marshall hisses "Burn in Hell, bitch" at Fan as she passes.