The Six Guns

Chapter Twenty-Five: Vega

  Tanya and The Six Guns crew talked on the side of this quiet road. The tension in the air built up as the crew didn't know what to think of the situation yet. This familiar face of this person that Alex, Zia and Siran had once been acquainted with now raised alarms in the minds of the crew.
  "Traveling with this many people will make you look sketchy, ya know?" Tanya says. "Especially with all of you being on the news as branded criminals now".
  "Is that a threat or a heads up?" Siran asks in a low voice.
Giving off a slight, relaxed laugh, Tanya says "You really don't have much of a silver tongue, do you?".
Siran was left standing confused as Tanya continues to talk. "Don't worry about me" she says, "it's not like I'm out here to try and bust your asses or something. I just got done dropping my daughter off with her babysitter. Don't tell me, you need a ride again?".
There was a silence amongst the group as everyone took time to think to themselves. Finally, Alex asks "What?".
"Didn't I tell you?" Tanya says, "I'm not here to bust you".
"But what about being wanted criminals?" Zia asks, "doesn't that usually scare people?".
"Ah" Tanya says, looking up and thinking to herself, "been there, done that. It would be hypocritical of me to think ill of you all when I myself used to be a criminal".
By this time, the entire crew was at a loss for words. Taking the time to think about the situation, Finn eventually says "But you look so... normal".
Tanya shrugs and says "Wolf in sheep's clothing".
"But..." Zia starts to ask, "what about your daughter? Does she know about that?".
"God! Of course not!" Tanya says. "I said I used to be a criminal. There's a reason I quit. I'm a former gang member of Wolf Pack".
Alex raises one eyebrow in disbelief and asks "Wolf Pack? As in the notorious mafia called Wolf Pack?".
Getting irritated, Tanya asks "Look, are you going to accept my offer for another free ride or not?".
"Question..." Rose begins to ask, "not that I can see how big your car is, but can we all even fit in there?".
"You can all fit if a couple of you lay in the trunk with the other bodies" Tanya says.
There was a long silence as everyone stood still in a loss of words again. Finally, Tanya says "I'm kidding, geez... you'll just have to squeeze together".

After plenty of arguing while everyone tries to fit in the car, eventually they were all able to squeeze together in the car. Zia sat in the front as the rest of the crew squeezed together in the back seats, although, they all had a hard time breathing. There wasn't much room to move, even for your chest to expand for breathing. As the crew struggled for comfort, Tanya asked "So where ya heading this time? I don't have much to do today, so I'm down for driving wherever, as long as it's reasonable".
"Pilloa" Zia says.
Confused by the response, Tanya asks "What would you want in Pilloa?".
"If you must know" Holly says, struggling for breath, "we're looking for a man named Demetri Ivanov. He's a cyberneticist and an explosives arms developer on the run and he was last spotted around that area".
Tanya was shocked by the sudden and honest answer. "That's all well and good" she says, "but you know where a man like that would hide, don't you? I mean, being criminals of such a large scale like yourselves, I would assume you know what's out by Pilloa...".
"No, what do you mean?" Siran asks.
"I know" Zia says. "You're referring to Vega, aren't you?". As Zia spoke, she was staring down at her hands, as if she were trying to avoid bringing it up.
"Vega?" Alex asks, while suffocating.
"Vega" Tanya says. "The under water state. Also called the Sea of Thieves. It's an underground, or rather underwater, independent state that is run by and houses all sorts of criminals. Like the purely criminal version of Seeira. Not many people know about it, but if there's any one place that I can think of for a cyberneticist on the run to hide, it'd be Vega".
Thinking for a moment, Alex eventually asks "How'd Zia know about such a place?".
Zia starts blushing in worry, as if anxious that everyone would now think less of her for knowing about such a thing. "I-it's not like I've been there. I just grew up in Pilloa, so I know a lot about the area".
"Don't worry" Tanya says, "I think it's safe to assume that you didn't want to know about that place. But for most people to find out about it, you would have to have known someone from Vega to discover it. It's a well hidden place".
Zia looks Down for a moment, then says "I met someone who said they came from Vega, but back then, I had no idea what that place was".
"So you don't know how to get in then?" Tanya asks.
Zia shakes her head no, then Tanya says "Then it looks like you'll need an escort".
The whole crew froze in surprise as Siran asks "Are you sure you can do something like that?".
"I don't see why not" Tanya says.
"I can think of a few reasons" Alex says. "Like what about your daughter, The Ly'Lum, the danger you'll be in if you stick around us?".
Tanya grips the steering wheel of the car harder as she says "Look, The Ly'Lum is my enemy too. I just live here for the sake of my daughter. As long as she's okay, I don't care about danger. Besides, the closer to danger, the farther from harm, right?".
"I'm pretty sure that figure of speech is a complete lie" Rose says.
"Oh yeah?" Tanya says, "name one time where being closer to danger didn't save people from harm".
"A fire..." Rose immediately responds.
Tanya was silent for about three seconds before saying "Fair enough".
Zia suddenly asks for a request after all the arguing. "Can we stop in the Mahina Village in Pilloa before we go to Vega?" She asks.
"Something you wanna see?" Tanya asks.
"Something I want to retrieve if it's still there, actually" Zia replies.
"No problem" Tanya says with a smile, "We'll stop there first then".
Zia sighs in relief, then says "Thank you".
"Why are you helping us so much anyways?" Siran asks.
Tanya thinks to herself for a moment and then says "I guess I'm just tired of living the life I've been living. I didn't want to stay a gang member, and I'm not good at living the quiet life as a mother, but at the same time there's people out here trying to change the way the world is. Six dumb kids all fighting against The Ly'Lum".
"Rude" Holly says.
Tanya laughs a little then says "But honestly, I'm glad to see at least some people know how to stand up for themselves, unlike this dumb, almost middle aged asshole that I am".