OVER THE SILVER SKY TO THE WORLD OF NEVER : Part 152 - Why Do You Always Talk Such Rubbish?

I've recently created my own gang of orphaned street urchins. Right now they are out there accepting candy from strangers as ordered by me. Then they are robbing and raping those strangers. They don't kill them though. In a few months, after those strangers have recovered they can be robbed and raped again. That'll learn them. It's as easy as accepting candy from strangers. Obviously I allow my street urchins to stab them up a bit. Let them have their fun I say. They keep the candy, I keep 99% of the cash. Which I invest on their behalf. Mainly in drugs, alcohol, fast cars and hookers. With a little bit left over for insulin. After all they're living on sugar essentially. But they're living. Some of them a lot longer than you'd expect. Diabetic and riddled with antibiotic resistant sexually transmitted diseases. They still soldier on bravely. It's the circle of life. I should point out that the street urchins pictured below are not my street urchins. It would be stupid to put their images out there. Those strangers might recognize them as might any new customers. Thanks to the high turnover in gang members that's not likely, but it's better to be safe than sorry. No, this is a rival gang of street urchins. Take a close look and know that if you have candy, you're a stranger and you see any of these children, you are about to be gang raped at knife point. Run as fast as you can is my advice. If you're going to be robbed and gang raped, you want the best. There's no extra cost either. Another beauty of this business is that our customers rarely report the crimes. I know, it's hard to believe that pedophiles are so forgiving.

(The copyright to this image is the property of Haggerston/Pintrest.)

"What are you up to today?" Jake asked brightly, as Scarlet, Pip and Pengelly mounted the gangplank.
"None of your business Sparky." She countered.
Fighting to remain impassive, while keeping the grin from his face, Jake nodded.
"I thought as much. I was just wandering how long you'd be."
Pengelly tactfully showed his back. Gazing at some nonexistent object. Pip was far less subtle. Openly studying their interaction with great interest.
"How do you expect me to maintain my mystery, if I let you know what I'm doing? It's only the lies and deceit that keep us together. It's not your nonexistent looks, intelligence or sexual skills. It's your ignorance and bewilderment I find unrepulsive."
"It's always nice to know just how inadequate I am Captain. Keeps me grounded. Is there anything I can do for you while you're gone? Anything that doesn't involve risk to life or serious personal injury."
"You keep wrangling those nerds. It's what you're least worst at Sparky."
"Your confidence in me is inspirational. I'm getting a warm glow deep down inside."
"I should get that checked if I were you. It could be something serious. Now stop being so clingy. It makes you even more intolerable than you already are."

The shore party set off again. Jake leaned back against the railing. Life was great. She was the best thing about it. Checking his firewave it was evident that he was due to take Poppy for her walk. Over the last week she'd gone from strength to strength. Building up quite a good pace with those leg braces. Spending more time in the hold with Norbert. He was a work in progress. Good days and bad days. Unless his head was buried in some project, he could get erratic. An erratic nerd was something nobody wanted. He could invent a doomsday device, then forget about it until he absentmindedly detonated it. A touch hyperbolic, but essentially true.

He headed to the sickbay. Finding his nerd up and about. Fully dressed and ready for her walk. Poppy looked at him expectantly. Holding her arms out. This indicated something was different. Damn, now he'd have to work that out while he pretended he was taking it in. He thought it was good. She seemed cheerful. Her hair hadn't changed. The clothing was pretty much the same as he'd already seen. There were doubts though. She'd always been strawberry blonde. She still was. That didn't mean anything. The change could be subtle. Hermes was on holiday again. He'd have to ask him out loud for advice anyway. This was tricky. He nodded and murmured in an appreciative manner.

"You've got no idea have you." Poppy accused him.
He was guilty, but he might be able to make a reasonable defense.
"No I haven't. You don't look any different to me. I'm afraid to ask if I'm honest. I don't think it's your hair."
That look of disapproval with her hands on her hips reminded him of Scarlet. Except it was far less malevolent. She lifted her legs and waggled them, one after the other.
"I'm not wearing my leg irons. My spine's fully healed. Almost. The Captain noticed straight away."
"Yeah. She's got a huge advantage over me though. She pays attention. Me, I'm far to busy internalizing everything. How long before they're run in then?"
It took a moment for her to understand his meaning.
"Oh they're near perfect now. Well in function. Not so much in form. Daisy's got really good legs."
"I know They're very handy for keeping her ass off the ground." She took a couple of wobbly staccato steps. "Are you sure they're okay for immediate use?"
"They've got a clean bill of health. It's just that my nerves and reactions got used to working those mechanical legs."
"I'll take your word. I'm not a doctor... Well I am doctor, but a doctor of history. That very rarely needs urgent medical attention. If it did I'd be screwed. I haven't brought my history first aid kit with me."
She giggled.
"Why do you always talk such rubbish?"
"My brain thinks up ideas, then my mouth ruins them. Something like that anyway."
She ignored him. Instead clapping her hands, eyes sparkling face beaming.
"Now that my legs are working I thought we could do some exploring."
Jake looked at her warily.
"I'm not so sure about that. I've got explicit orders from the Captain not to let you come to any harm. If you over exert yourself it could do great harm. I'd have to carry you back."
"It's alright. She said it's okay."
"Are you lying to me? If I check and she didn't say that, I'll get cross. I may only let you break your word five or six more times before I don't trust you anymore. Ten maximum. There's a limit. I've never reached it, but I'm sure it's there."
"You know I wouldn't lie to you. Not about this anyway. My legs are fine. Thanks to you letting me use them and thus preventing them from atrophying. It was the Captain who suggested it. Well, after I'd whined for a bit. When they blew up that statue one of the pieces of the head hit a rock formation. Actually it was some really good work. They needed to propel that part away from the city. Anyway it's opened up a cavern. The Captain wants us to check it out. See if we can find anything interesting. Her orders were not to touch anything and to head straight back if there was the slightest hint of danger." She was still looking at him with those puppy. Then blurted. "She also said it would be up to you whether we went or not."
He stood there stony faced. Folding his arms.
"Oh I see. Well I'm going to have to think about this long and hard." He smirked. "I can't keep this up. I just thought of something dirty. We'll go. But at the first sign of any danger we are out of there. You have to stick close to me... For you know... Reasons."
"Didn't they kill all the assassins?"
"They did. Apart from the ones who were undercover among the other factions."
The grin on her face vanished.
"What happened to them?"
"The factions killed them. As soon as they knew all their memory crystals had been disposed of."
Poppy cheered up.
"That's good then."
"Depending which side of the equation you're on. For us, brilliant. For them an eternity of being tortured by Nemesis. So I'm thinking they aren't happy with the result. Sssoooo, quickly changing the subject. Let's get moving. We'll need to kit you out first. That might be a problem. I'm broke. What are you like for cash?"
"I've got nothing but my dreams."
He smiled.
"Actually that was quite good. As the quartermaster I could embezzle the necessary funds from the ships accounts. That's a slippery slope. I've had a thought though. Hermes?" The rustle in his ears told him he'd roused the AI from his data sifting. "Could you hack into the local banking system and get us some money?"
"Of course I can." Hermes replied. "I can hack into just about anything. There are limits. I don't want you going mad. The more I take the more likely it is we'll be discovered. Even though they won't be able to trace me they'll become very suspicious of you."
"I wasn't thinking of robbing them blind. I was thinking more of some long term borrowing that we'll never pay back."
"Can do."

The two of them headed to the hold to inform Norbert of their forthcoming expedition. He was deep into his studies. Going over that Simbri text checking to see if he'd missed anything. Now he had a much greater understanding of their culture and language it not only made things easier, it also increased the accuracy of his work. He wasn't happy of course. However being a nerd and Norbert, he'd figured such an eventuality might occur. He'd made preparations. At the back of his hut there was a mobile projector he'd been working on. It would enable the projection of a technological field. Of course being small it had a limited range. The power requirements were a problem as well. With this, Poppy could have a protective shield and use a few proximity detecting devices. To ensure no one sneaked up on them. The genius pulled off the sheet covering it.

"There you are." He declared proudly. "That's the absolute pinnacle of miniaturization."
Jake and Poppy stared at it then gave each other concerned looks.
"How much does that weigh?" Poppy inquired.
"Sixty two and a half kilos. Give or take. It's got carry straps. It's like a back pack."
"I think Poppy might struggle if she was carrying that. What do you think Pop's?"
She wrinkled her nose. Afraid of hurting Norbert's feelings by revealing the truth.
"I thought you'd carry it Jake." Norbert suggested.
"That settles it. Not a chance. Even Fetu would be encumbered by that. He'd never wear it anyway. It would get in the way of his ax. If he won't lug that around I'm bloody sure I won't either."
Norbert, having been summarily rejected, turned to his love.
"It's a very nice thought Norbert, but I think the city projectors will still be within range. Even allowing for the shielding of the rocks surrounding the cavern. This is something for the future I think. When it's been perfected. What's it's range anyway?"
"Almost two meters."
"Wow. That's impressive." Jake exclaimed sarcastically. Receiving a sharp look from the lady.
"It is lovely though." She insisted. "For a prototype it's incredible."

Jake and Poppy extricated themselves from the hold. Without hurting Norbert's feelings. Pop's warning him that if he laughed she'd pinch him. They headed up on deck. Where Fetu and Morag were waiting. This had been going to happen all along. Although the two of them pretended they were at a loose end, with nothing to do. Jake began to get the idea Scarlet was intent on decreasing his chances of causing mischief. Manipulating him. While allowing him to think he was exercising free will. He liked to think it showed she cared. mainly about keeping him from creating another shit storm. The speed with which they found transport wasn't in the least bit suspicious. Nor was all the kit that had to be loaded. First stop of course was an outfitters. Poppy got her first set of personalized armor. It would have been brightly colored if she'd had her way. In the end she settled for some nice red decals. With her hair tied back she looked the business. Hermes did his magic. Siphoning off funds from a nearby financial institution owned by one of the families. Jake thought, given his limitless credit, it might be nice to get her some personal weapons. Made for her specifications. That done they headed out of town. Into the foothills of some mountains that barely qualified as such.

Kayzee had sent out some of her constables to guard the recently revealed entrance. They were in the process of arresting a trio of miscreants who'd tried to sneak in. The group gave Poppy and her crew some very dark looks, when they were waved through without any checks. Part of the back of the statue's head lay in three large pieces across their path. This was where they had to leave the truck and continue on foot. The nerd keeping her excitement restrained. One or two nervous looks over her shoulder, which were to be expected. Given what she'd suffered through, Jake was pretty sure he'd have been a paranoid mess. It was only a couple of minutes walk to the opening. The four of them donned their helmets and turned on the high powered lamps. They entered. A short way inside were some steps. This was in fact a genuine archaeological site. Morag's readings indicated no one had set foot here for at east twenty thousand years. The interior was chilly but dry. They followed the steps down and found themselves in a wide passage with a roof some ten meters above them.

There was nothing much to see really. No ornamentation of any sort. The walls were smooth. Hewn from the bedrock. Not a mark or even a scratch on them. You could feel the age of the place bearing down on you. With no features of interest, the four of them looked ahead. After a hundred meters or so they spotted a huge arch. The tunnel must open up into something even larger. Nobody said a word. All concentrating on the vista before them. They came to a halt some distance from that opening. Sensing the vastness of what lay before them. Playing their lights over the arched entrance. It was Morag who saw it first. She nudged Jake indicating he should look up. A weird sensation made him shiver. It was quite cold though. The lamp on his helmet sought where Morag was looking. Cautiously, for no immediately apparent reason. There in the beams of light was the first decoration they'd seen. Fetu and Poppy were drawn to it as well. As all four lamps concentrated on it the whole thing was revealed. Glittering gold. Shimmering in the light. A message, written in Sinohispanglic. Each individual letter and symbol at least three meters high. It read; The Wanderer has returned. Welcome Wanderer. The others were looking at him now. Their lights shifting from the message. Jake took a deep breath. Finally breaking the silence.

"Bollocks!"