"Whatever you say, Dale, just do it quickly, please. I'll keep him company until he wakes up or Stan gets here." Val replied as she knelt beside Jack, tears in her eyes as Dale walked away.
Jack was an idiot, and he obviously loved her enough to risk his life for her, and she couldn't stand the thought of him getting killed because of her, so while they waited she held his hand, even though there wasn't much one could do to comfort an unconscious body.
"Jack, you're an idiot but… Thank you." She said as tears poured from her eyes.
Chapter 4
About an hour later, Stan arrived in his old, beat-up car and made his way into the Courtroom as fast as he could. The amicable Russian stood a hair taller than Jack himself and had raven-black hair, striking blue eyes, and a rather fit figure. Most of the Russian workers did though, from a combination of hard work and malnutrition. He made his way over to Valerie and stopped just short of Jack, who had been moved to a stretcher from the med bay.
Stan stared at the damage to Jack as he spoke, "Oh man, that... That looks very painful. Let's hurry and move him to car and we can head back to my place, put him in bed."
"Alright Stan, let's get going then," Valerie said as she started rolling the stretcher towards the exit, and Stan helped her get him into the car.
Stan winced in a sympathetic pain for his friend as they moved him from the stretcher to the car.
"You know Val, it is not hard to acquire passport and citizenship, you two could still come work with me. Life in Oktyabrskaya Prospekt is not too bad if you don't mind eating a little less meat and more potatoes. Plus a drink every now and again." The Russian laughed, trying to lighten the mood, "That is Russia joke, sadly true. But really, it's not that bad."
Valerie finished strapping Jack in and sat down in the passenger seat. "I told you, Stan, I'll try to get Jack to listen. But he's stubborn and you know that. It doesn't help that neither of us speaks a lick of Russian."
Stan contemplated this for a moment, then offered his response, "Ah, I see. That may be... detrimental to job. There is simple fix! I can teach you Russian!"
"Stan, I appreciate that you're so eager to help, but I'm not sure if a change in masters is going to help our situation at all, Russian or not." Val sighed, "It's not the job that's the problem, it's the people running the show, and that's not going to change whether or not we work in the Russian Prospect or in the American Province. And as much as I'd love to come work with you, it's simply up to Jack to decide."
"Why's it up to him?" Stan asked in an innocent tone.
Val sighed again, "Because I can't just up and leave him in this hell-hole alone. And it's not like we could start a rebellion with just the three of us either."
Stan laughed heartily, and retorted, "Why of course we could! The only problem would be surviving it! Haha, Val, you are funny woman! We could never overthrow companies like Aerotec or Rossnebo, they have too much power! And it's not like we can take a bunch of potatoes out into the Martian countryside and make a homestead! Nyet... We have to work in the mines. It is up to our children's children to achieve what we wanted when we came here," Stan had suddenly taken on a darker tone despite his optimistic diction, more fitting with the somber mood of the day, "A rebellion would never work, unless you had hundreds of people behind it. Besides, we'd be crushed by the police before we even got our feet out the door." Stan leaned in and whispered to Val, "Not that I wouldn't mind an accident befalling particular individuals, à la the KGB."
Suddenly Val broke out in a fit of morbid laughter, "Oh Stan! You're such a dreamer! What I'd pay to see that damned overseer's fate in such a rebellion!" She took a moment to wipe the smile off her face, "But enough of this, let's get Jack to your place, tuck him away in bed, and maybe have a drink. We can have a discussion about the corporate overlords then."
Stan's mood lightened back to where it had been. "Of course Val! Hopefully, Jack will wake up and be able to join us! Haha!"
Valerie kept laughing at the absurdity of the conversation, going from joking about overthrowing the government to seriously discussing it, and then to joking about their best friend nearly having his life taken by some ass with a propensity for punishment. It truly was madness.
"Stan, you are the only person I know who can change the mood of a conversation in the blink of an eye, I'm not sure if you're insane, stupid, or just have a loose comprehension of how moods work."
"Why not all of the above Val? I'm your local crazy Russian!" He hooted.
The pair continued talking about minor trifles and whatnot while they rode, and within an hour and a half, they arrived at Stan's apartment complex. These were worryingly similar to the tenements of the American Gilded Age, or -more appropriately- the blockish buildings of the old Soviet Union.
Unlike the tenements in their later stages, however, Stan's apartment was a full apartment. It even had a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and small living space.
"Stan, I will never understand how you afforded this," Valerie said as she helped drag Jack into the ground floor apartment, "You'd think you were a drug dealer or something."
"Well I do not sell drugs, and even if you were mispronouncing droog, I do not trade my friends for money. Here, lay him on the couch, I will go fetch blanket." Stan quickly left the room and returned with an old quilt which was supposedly from his grandmother.
"Stan, you're an absolute doll, a big Russian teddy bear. We've known you since forever and you treat us like family. I just don't know where we'd be without you, to be honest," Valerie was suddenly overcome with emotion and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his shoulder, "Seriously Stan... You're a lifesaver."
Stan was taken by surprise but then resorted to hugging her in return and said, "Shh shh... Is all right. I would do anything for you, both of you. You are dear friends and have helped me through rough times as well. Is only fair. You can stay here as long as you have to, and I will make sure of it with the mine, I promise."
"Stan... You don't have to." Val felt bad taking advantage of his kindness, or it felt like that was what she was doing anyway.
"No, I do. It is ancient Vulkov tradition. Treat friend very well, and only push them out of your house if they drink all your vodka," Stan was already wearing an obnoxiously large smile on his face, "Why do you think I sent you two home last time?"
Val chuckled through her sobs, appreciating Stan's efforts to cheer her up. "Stan... we had to work the next day... Your lack of vodka was purely coincidental."
"Suuuure it was. Come on, I have nice pot of borscht we can eat and some tea. We'll save the alcohol for Jack, he's going to need it with as rough as he looks."
Valerie stiffened recalling the flogging. "Yeah, Erin really did a number on him, but there have been worse floggings in the past. At least Jack's alive. Let's go eat..."
"Whatever you say baryshnya. That is Russian for 'miss'." Stan smiled, already trying to teach her some Russian.
"You sure are determined to teach us Russian, aren't you?" She laughed.
"Exactly!" He snorted back at her, and with that, the pair went into the kitchen to grab an early supper.
Chapter 5
Jack groaned as he lay on the couch, already hating the excruciating pain in his back. Ugh, where... Where am I? Jack thought to himself, Is this... Okay, this blanket is that old quilt Stan has, so I'm going to go out on a limb and say I'm at Stan's place. Hm... If it wasn't for the pain in my back I'd try to get up, but uh... Ah screw it, it can't be that bad, can it?
Jack attempted to sit up, only to scream out and mutter a string of foul curses as he doubled over in pain, only for the doubling over to further exaggerate the pain and cause Jack to effectively blackout for a moment. After he regained consciousness, Valerie and Stan rushed into the room and found him still trying to sit up.
"HE'S FINALLY AWAKE!" Valerie shouted before realizing something, "Stan, I think he's bleeding again. Look at your couch."
Stan looked at the bloody smear
on his couch. Hm. That is a lot of blood. "Oh Val, that is not new blood, that is just where his bandages have bled through during the night. It does need to be cleaned and rebandaged though."
Jack himself just moaned and groaned about his stupidity in trying to sit up, but he was barely coherent. "Could... one of you.... get... me a... drink…?" he finally managed to stutter out through the misery-induced fog. Preferably one that can end my misery, he thought.
"Sure thing Jack, I'll go get you some willow tea, the alcohol is going to have to wait until you're a bit better though," Valerie said, before dashing off to the kitchen.
"Stan?" Jack mumbled, turning his head to his friend, "How bad is it?"
Stan sat Jack up and began unwrapping the bloody bandages while he spoke, "It is... Very bad, but not as bad as could be. You have at least five major lacerations across your back, and a lot of smaller ones as well, and sitting, in general, is going to be very terrible," he stated grimly, "If you haven't noticed, your entire back is pretty much one big bruise. You look like grape Jack. But no worry will have you fixed up in no time!"
Jack laughed painfully, and Stan continued his diagnosis, "The bruising should be noticeably better within the week but will probably take a month to go away completely, and the lacerations will take maybe week to heal enough for you to move without insane pain, and another two weeks for the pain to be gone, with pain medication of course. Overall, I'd say about a month before you can function and return to work in the mines."
"Stan, that sounds absolutely terrible, I don't want to bother you with taking care of my sorry ass," Jack said, a slightly mournful tone to his voice.
"No Jack is fine, you can stay here as long as you need! We are all friends here, are we not?" Stan retorted, the edge of his accent revealing the stress he was under.
Jack sighed with resignation. He didn't particularly care for being an immobile potato for a week. Even if mobility was literally impossible at the moment. "Yeah, we are friends Stan, but you know how I am with my independence. I can't stand sitting here doing nothing," he said.
"I know, I know, just don't think that you are burden, Jack. Neither of you are, and neither of you ever have been or ever will be. Got it?" Stan chided him like a father to a depressed child.
"Got it," Jack answered with no small amount of shame.
Soon, Valerie returned with a cup of sweetened willow tea just as Stan was helping Jack to sit down on the couch. She handed it to Jack, "Same way you made the tea for me the last time. Hopefully, it doesn't kill you."
Jack took a sip of the tea, it was bitter but palatable enough. "Oh it's grand Val, and hopefully it helps with the pain. Anyway, what have y'all been up to while I've been passed out?"
He looked at them over the brim of the cup as he drank. "Talking about the feasibility of revolution, then the possibility of killing Erin. A whole bunch of happy things," Val spoke nonchalantly as if she hadn't just suggested something that hadn't been tried in at least thirty years.
Jack choked a little on his tea before speaking, "What? Revolu- what? As much as I'd like to think that's possible, it'd never happen, not unless you have a printing press and a whole bunch of paper. It's not like you can just start a bloody revolution with three people and a dream, you have to have public support first."
Stan jumped into the conversation, "Well Jack, it just so happens that I do have a printer and a whole lot of paper and ink."
Jack was confused, and made it very clear: "You guys can't possibly be serious! We'd be dead in a week! Sure, the Earth-bound agencies wouldn't do shit to, or for, us. But think of what the companies would do! We can't just launch a bloody revolution from our apartments! I mean, How much did you two drink last night?"
Val retorted this time, "None, actually, we were sober, and we think it could be done. After all, it's not like we have anything to lose besides our lives."
Jack snorted before sinking into contemplation, his thoughts running at a million miles an hour: Yeah, so what if they kill us? It can't be worse than getting flogged every other day. But what about the future? What about Valerie and Stan, we can't let them die! Would you prefer they continue suffering day in and day out? No, and besides…
Jack spoke now, "You guys are right. I'd rather die fighting for our freedom and safety than keep being abused. Even if it means we all die, at least we die together... right?"
Val affirmed his point, "Exactly Jack! Besides, we might start out small, but we can grow. Tension is already ripe across the colonies, abuses and mistreatment are rampant, all that needs to be done is some awareness-raising, maybe a few actions here and th-"
Jack stopped Val with a wave of his hand, "What kinds of actions Val? We can't go about bombing people and murdering random Aerotec employees simply because they're higher than us, and if there's anything history has taught anyone, it's that violence should not be a primary tool for change."
Val took this in and continued, "Jack, you're right, but... Okay yeah, you're right, we can only really... Propagandize I guess. But it's better than doing nothing right?"
"True on all accounts, not that I'd be unwilling to kill select Aerotec management... But that's stupid. We all have our fantasies, but that doesn't mean we should act on them. I mean what if-" Suddenly, a shockwave hit the building, along with the sound of a massive explosion, shaking the dust from the exposed rafters of the apartment.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!?" Jack screamed as he tried to stand, giving up almost immediately.
Stan pulled down a blind on the window and reported on what he saw, his voice strangely calm amidst the chaos, "It looks like one of the fuel depots at the Rossnebo mine exploded. Don't worry, we will be fine, though slums near the fuel tank are going to be far less lucky. I have to go, will be back soon." Stan rushed to his room and grabbed a heavy jacket, a box of medical supplies, and a sledgehammer.
"Where do you think you're going, Stan? You can't possibly be going towards the massive fire?" Jack asked in astonishment. In all his time in New Columbia, this hadn't happened before, not on this scale at least. He knew Stan had a big heart, but he didn't know that Stan was one to rush into action like that.
"Jack, Val, there are things you still do not know about me, but I can't sit here and do nothing. Don't worry, will be fine. Worst case, I end up like you, Jack." Before they could say another word, Stan was out the door and running down the street, like some firefighter from fifty years ago...
Chapter 6
Jack continued his line of thinking from before the explosion, culminating in an insane idea, "Val, while he's gone, I need you to go get some things from my apartment."
"Jack, our best friend has just rushed blindly into danger, and you want me to play fetch?" Val asked incredulously, her voice trembling on the edge of terror.
"Well Val, we can't exactly do anything to stop Stan, and if we are serious about our little revolution, I'm going to need a few things, but luckily for you, they're all in a box under my bed, and Stan left his keys here." Jack carried on in resigned calmness. It wasn't that he wasn't worried about Stan, he just couldn't do anything about it.
Val muttered something along the lines of "Fine, but I don't like it."
"Good, so, under my bed is a box, about yea big, and inside of it are my entire monetary savings from the past five years, my passport, and my gun." Jack spoke these things as if they were perfectly normal things to have hidden under one’s bed.
"Since when did you have a gun?" Val was honestly shocked. Aerotec had cracked down on firearms in the early days of the colony, and only criminals and the police forces had them now.
"It's an old family heirloom that I've had since forever and kept hidden away. It's like 200 years old, but it works, and I've been modernizing bits and pieces, modifying it... 'Why' isn't important, we need it. Don't ask me why. I also need everything else from that box, so just bring the box. Please, Val?"
She sighed, "You know what? I'm not even going to ask, but sure, I'll go grab it,
just don't die while I'm gone"
"Same to you love." Val picked up the keys off of Stan's kitchen table, then left for Jack's apartment.
...
While Val was driving to Jack's apartment, Stan was rushing towards the inferno, arriving at the scene of a house fire started by the exploding liquid fuel tank and -sadly- a house fire that was not being tended to by fire and rescue services. Stanislav threw on his coat, grabbed his sledge, and rushed into the house without considering the danger to himself. He rushed from room to room, calling out for anyone who was there to come to him before the fire spread. He ended up saving a mother and her two children, all of which had been knocked unconscious by the initial blast, and pointed them in the direction of paramedics.
Meanwhile, Jack was forming a plan, an insane plan, the craziest of plans. He and Val had talked about how change needed to be accomplished in the world, and they agreed that, while violence was never the full answer, it could be used, but a revolution would primarily need to come from propaganda and high-risk action. The thing is, they had never seriously contemplated launching a revolution against Earth or Aerotec, mainly because life didn't seem that bad. But now, beaten within a few inches of his life? Anything seemed better than continuing like this. So he drafted a plan: flyers and pamphlets, mass-produced and distributed during the night. From there, who knew? He set to work designing the first pamphlet.
...
In the meantime, Valerie had arrived at Jack's apartment and was pulling out the box from under Jack's bed. She had finally given up on living day in and day out under the tyranny of Cullcoh and Aerotec as a whole, especially after seeing what they did to Jack, and what they could do in the future. If the government wasn't going to do anything about it, then they'd do something about it themselves, even if it killed them. Stan agreed, but he didn't want to do anything too extreme, while Valerie would gladly kill anyone she thought needed to go. She grabbed the box out from under Jack's bed and lugged it into the car. As large as it was, she wondered just how much crap Jack had stored in there, and she began making her way back to the apartment.
Jack Cabe Page 2
