Change of Plans

Max sat in sullen silence on the back of the ambulance as the medic from Paladin Hospital worked on her disruptor burns.

"You know--" the young man was saying as he wrapped her hand in a sterile bandage, "--being grazed by a disrupt effect like this would've been fatal a couple hundred years ago..." But Max wasn't listening to the man; she was lost in her own thoughts.

Danno Chimeron the Boojum's terrible tragedy haunted her.

Orphaned at age twelve when his family died one by one from the Black Plague, hounded as a demon because of his regenerative powers, forced to live in the streets, watching everyone he knew grow old and die while he stayed young... It was no wonder his soul had become so darkened. Max wondered if she would have turned out any different had she been in his place. Was it even possible for an immortal to live a normal, healthy life in human society, at least for any length of time? She doubted it.

Danno had called it 'the worst of woes'...

Max's mind was recalled from the melancholy netherworld it wandered by the repeated calling of her name by one of the investigating policemen. The officer was standing right in front of her saying, "Miss Vasser... Miss Vasser..."

She had been 'Commander' Vasser for so long that being called 'Miss' just didn't register in her brain yet. She was pretty sure she'd never get used to it.

"Yes? What is it?" she replied distantly.

"I just wanted you to know, ma'am," said the officer politely, "that the scientist you rescued is going to get the best of care, though he'll remain paralyzed for the rest of his life. There was no sign of a twelve-year-old boy though. The only other thing my detectives found was another dead body."

Max's ears pricked up and her heart went cold. "Who was it? Where?" she asked.

The officer hitched his thumb over his shoulder and nonchalantly said, "Around the back of the warehouse. Looks like a local cab driver. Shot with a disruptor at point-blank range. His cab's stolen, and whoever did it tore the transponder out of the dash so it'll be hard to locate it."

The officer checked a PADD he was carrying. "We've got your statement. We'll call you if we need anything else." With that, he began to turn away, but a lingering suspicion made him turn back.

"You wouldn't know anything about the dead cabbie, would you, Miss Vasser? Or where the murderer might be headed?"

Max shook her head. "No," she lied.

She couldn't tell if the police officer completely believe her, but the man grunted and turned away again to leave.

Max called to his retreating back. "Say... Where's the nearest sporting goods store?"