5: Stat and the Physician

Aballa spent the next week keeping her head down and doing what she was supposed to do… for the most part.

She stuck close to Jenna, in part because they worked the same shift, but mostly because she had a better feel for life here, even though she had only been here a half-week longer than her. While they still hadn’t discussed their pasts much, Aballa got the sense that Jenna was streetsmart in all the ways she was datasmart.

But being datasmart wasn’t without its advantages. She’d recognized one of the other gangs here on her own. She’d missed it at first because there were only maybe a half dozen or so of them around, but based on the tattoos she saw around their necks, there was a definite Brotherhood presence here.

The Void Brotherhood were on her radar because they were far more dangerous than your average group of criminals. These pirates were organized. So much so they had effectively taken control of an entire planet in the Void, Ramede. This also meant they controlled its Autonomous Resource Zone as well, the 43-light-year bubble that surrounded the planet.

How it had happened had been a wake-up call to the Protectorate, because it hadn’t been done through force… mostly. And there were fears that other pirate groups in the gaps between Protectorate nations might try something similar.

Aballa’s interest, however, came from the fact that they made a business of shuffling people into Draxon space and selling them off to unscrupulous people, often corporations. The Draxon government did not approve of this, but did not do nearly enough to prevent it, either.

Seeing the Brotherhood here was only slightly surprising. They weren’t close to Ramede, but were close enough that she could imagine them being dumped here for various reasons. 

But they didn’t seem to interact with any of the other groups. She’d never seen them posture like the Star Wolves, or own certain rooms at certain times like the Fangs. But nobody messed with them, either. Which made sense. Once you got out of this place, you might come across their friends sometime, and you wouldn’t want them to have heard of you for the wrong reasons. For the most part, they kept to themselves.

For the most part.

Towards the end of her first week, while Aballa was headed to the library to get a book, one of them cornered her. He didn’t make any overt threats, but it was clear from his size and body language she wasn’t going anywhere.

“So, what do you do?” he asked.

“I…I work in the manufacturing facility.”

“Yeah? What can you do?”

“Sorry?”

“What did you do before?”

“Um… I worked in data collection and analysis.”

“Pffft. Nerd,” the man scoffed, and left her alone.

That was strange. What was stranger was it wasn’t an isolated incident. Jenna had seen someone else being confronted by two Brotherhood types before he was let go.

When Aballa brought it up the next time she and Jenna had lunch with their new friend, her fellow Nubran had an idea.

“We should see Stat the Tat,” said Ema.

“The tattoo artist?” said Jenna.

Ema nodded. “Guy keeps his ear to the ground. Quality tat work takes time, and people like to talk. Stat likes to listen. He might have heard if other people had been harassed by the Brotherhood.”

Jenna frowned. “How does he keep from getting shived if he’s blabbing everything he hears?”

Ema gave a lazy smile. “He doesn’t talk to just anyone, and usually he charges for information. The Physician makes sure no one touches him. He finds him useful, and nobody wants to risk interrupting the flow of spice.”

“How much does he charge?” asked Aballa.

“Well, it just so happens I have the friends and family discount,” said Ema. “So I’m guessing a simply question like this will be on the house.”

Stat’s workshop was located in a small unused storage room across from the Yard. It was probably maintenance related back when this place had been a colony instead of a prison.

A couple of large Senob inmates blocked the way inside, but stepped aside to Ema through, then shuffled back to block Aballa and Jenna.

“Hey Ema, how much ink do you want today?” they heard Stat say.

“Same as always, zero!” Ema said cheerfully.

After that, it got quiet for a bit, and then Ema came back and gave them a nod. The Senob stepped aside, and Aballa and Jenna joined her inside.

The room was fairly sparse. Nothing to suggest any kind of settling in or permanence. Just an empty chair, a table full of bottles, needles, and a small machine, and a rather large and balding Terran male sitting on a chair and appraising them as they entered.

“You’re both new,” said Stat.

Aballa nodded, but Jenna was looking around the room.

“So, Ema shared your little problem with me. Seems like you’ve caught on to the trend before I did. I had two other people come mentioning the Brotherhood asking questions, but I didn’t see a pattern until now. That’s at least four people in the last day.”

“What do they want?” asked Aballa.

“Damned if I know,” said Stat. “But now that you brought it to my attention, I’ll be looking into it more and can I help you?”

Stat looked pointedly at Jenna, who was wandering around the room, examining the walls, the corners, the shadows, pretty much everything.

“I’m just checking to see if this place is bugged,” said Jenna.

This seemed to annoy Stat greatly. “If you mean from other people, then no. I’m more than capable of sweeping my own place of work, thank you very much. If your asking whether I have anything here myself, then that falls under the category of none of your business. If I did have anything here, it would be for my own protection.”

Jenna stopped looking and stepped back. “Sorry.”

Stat grumbled, but then looked at Jenna harder. “Hold up. It’s Jenna, right?”

Jenna nodded. “Yes.”

“Right. I got your special order lined up. Come here.”

Jenna blinked, uncertain, then stepped forward. Stat handed her a small card with writing on it. “I need you to give this list to the Physician,” he said. “When he gets them, we’ll talk again, understand?”

“Um… sure,” said Jenna, sounding as uncertain as she looked.

Once they left, Ema took them to the Yard. Originally, this had been an open communal park, with a transparent roof giving a view of space and mirrors reflecting sunlight in for the trees and flowers—none of which existed anymore.

Now it was all duracrete with some sports equipment scattered about. One corner was clearly off limits without an invitation, and this was the Physician’s domain.

Here, the Elysian held court right next to the smashball court. As they approached, one prisoner was taking his leave, and Aballa was convinced the woman even bowed a bit as she left. That definitely gave her an idea of what this guy was like. If Stat was the equivalent of a bartender, the Physician was the local mob boss.

Ema explained how things worked. If you wanted your prison issue, Green label, PFA approved food to taste like anything but soggy or crunchy cardboard, you worked for the Physician. Spice here was currency, and he was the head of the bank, with branch managers in every other Segment in the prison.

It was believed he got away with this because he had some kind of connection with the warden, or perhaps leverage.

Jenna was the first to speak to him. Aballa saw her hand him the card that Stat had given her. The Elysian’s folded wings ruffled slightly as he looked over the list, then started asking Jenna questions.

Once they were done, Aballa was brought forward.

“So, there’s no guarantee I have a position for you, but we’ll see what’s available,” said the Elysian. His skin seemed a bit blue to her now, but that might have been the man’s natural glamour at play, making him seem a bit more Nubran-like to her. “What exactly did you do on the outside?”

The similarity of his question to that of the Brotherhood goon made her uncomfortable. But she had little choice but to answer.

“Um… data collection and analysis.”

The Physician’s face was smooth and unreadable, which was true of most Elysians, but his brow did crease a tiny bit.

“Hmm… There’s someone in this Segment’s library that I have need of elsewhere from time to time. A specialist whose skills are wasted where he currently is. I’m going to arrange for you to cover for them a few hours a half-week. That will get you six cubes of class-C spice.”

“Sorry, um, what’s a class-C spice?” asked Aballa.

“Good ol’ Sodium Chloride,” said the Physician. “Table salt. It’s not fancy, but it’s the most universally compatible flavour enhancement. Very few species cannot metabolize it. Class-B pose moderate risk to differing species, while Class-A can be lethal to other species. Those I only trust to a few, given how they can easily be misused. So, do we have a deal?”

There was no handshake, just an understanding. Aballa now worked for the Physician.