Vacation: Day's End

                            By:

                         Fox Cutter

03/09/96:

I paced around our room on the ship, waiting for Oria to
return. She already had everything packed, and the ship was
to dock in a few minutes.

I rubbed my forehead. I had been trying to think of how to
talk to her about finding the Bliss in her bag, but hadn't
hit on anything yet.

Leaning against the side of the couch, I sighed.

"Something wrong?" Oria asked, as she came back into the
room.

I gulped, it was now or never. "Oria, sit down for a second.
I need to talk to you."

"Not right now, I have a few things to do before we go."

"Yes, right now."

She sighed, "Fox, I don't have time. I have to--"

Cutting her off, I barked out, "Oriana, sit down!"

She looked at me, a bit amazed. Then slowly she sat down on
the bed.

I pulled out the vial of Bliss and threw it to her. "What is
this?"

Looking it over, she replied, "I don't know."

I sighed, "Don't lie. I found it in your handbag a few days
ago."

"Why were you looking through my bag?" she said, looking
hurt.

"I wasn't. That night when the heating broke down, it was in
my jacket. When it fell out, it opened and most of the stuff
in it spilled out. Now, care to tell me WHAT the hell you're
doing with Bliss?"

She sighed, "It's not what you think."

I stood, "Oh, the fact that one of the doses is missing
tells me that? And don't give me any garbage about being
sold only one dose, it doesn't wash."

"I didn't take it." she said, hanging her head a bit.

I walked over to her, "Bullshit."

She looked up, anger in her eyes. Raising her paw she
unsheathed her claws. "Do you see *any* blue at all?"

I looked her claws over, looking for the blue tinting that
was the sign of Bliss use sometime in the past month. I
found none.

Looking at her I said, "Ok, I believe you. Then why is one
dose gone, and why do you have it in the first place?"

She folded her paws in her lap, "Well... He had me take one
dose there, he wouldn't let me go without it. I had been
given a counteragent to it before we came, which I had
already taken, so it just washed right out of my system."

"That's one answer. Now, why do you have it?"

"Your friend Jenner asked me to get it for him, so the
HammerHeads could shut the dealer and his associates down,"
she paused for a second, as if thinking, then continued.
"That was the panther you saw me with the other night."

I sat down next to her, and rested my head in my hands.
"You're working for the HammerHeads?"

"Yes, they got us the trip. They also gave me the
counteragent."

I turned my head, and looked her right in the eyes. "Jenner
is not my friend. He is the reason I never DID work for the
HammerHeads. They've tried to use me before, like when he
called me in that one time, and they have just used you.
They will continue to use you, as they see fit. You owe them
a favor for getting you on this cruise, don't you?"

She slowly nodded.

"Then, you have something to fear. Because one day they
_will_ call it in, and I know of no one who has survived
such a thing."

She closed her eyes, "What have I done?"

I patted her on the back, "What many have done, and what
many more will do. I will find a way to get you out of this,
I promise."

-----

This story is copyright 1996-2003 by Fox Cutter. Hardcopy
reprints limited to one per person, all other rights
reserved. This story may not be distributed for a fee except
by permission of the author, and this copyright notice may
not be removed.