Angry Jasper: Thirty

Jazz groaned and half wished they were going to kill him. If that was the case, then he wished they would just get it over with. He had nothing more to lose any longer. Kate had betrayed him, his ship was as good as trashed, and the Old lady’s credits, well they were as good as gone.

It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the light. Jazz winced and shielded his eyes, groaning as he did. His body was a bundle of painful knots and welts. He squeezed his eyes tightly and forced them open again. Even the mechanical one adjusted grudgingly. It whirred and went out of focus wildly after one brutal slug knocked it loose a bit. Jazz banged his temple with the heel of his hand and it came back to life. As it did he had the impression of someone standing over him. A weak grin came to his face.

“I know that crotch,” he said, coughing painfully.

Katy shook her head in disdain. “Popular as always, eh Jazz?”

He glanced at the open cell and the heap of bodies. “Those guys? Waitin’ for them to tire themselves out then I was gonna…”

“Save it, Jazz.” She knelt close. Her heart was terribly torn between kissing him and smashing his head into the floor. “You should not have come here.”

She had put him off more times than he could count. That was just how they were. Hell, the sex was fantastic, the best either of them had ever had, but the truth was they often came close to killing each other afterward, but something was different this time. He could see it in her eyes, and hear it in her voice. It was more than an underlying tension. She was into something big, something that scared the daylights out of her. More than that Kate was saying goodbye. Not again, but for all time. His heart sunk, despite the stupid smirk on his batteredface.

“Maybe you need me.” A breath caught in his chest. Christ, it almost sounded like pleading.

“Jazz, you don’t understand. You’re in too deep now. You’ve seen the underground. You can’t ever leave.”

“Well, I can’t just stay down here forever,” he smiled dumbly.

“Yeah, Jazz,” she said darkly. “That’s what I’m saying.”

It took a moment for what she was saying to sink in. The realization clobbered him right between the eyes. His brow collapsed like two drunken caterpillars colloiding.

“Let’s get off this dung heap of a planet,” he pleaded. “We can go to Titan, or farm sulfur sludge on Io. Ain’t much of a living, but it’s better than this.”

“Jazz, what are you talking…?” she frowned. “You have to know something. I’m getting married to Thomas.”

“The Rebel guy?”

“Yeah, the rebel guy.”

“You’re out of your gourd.”

“I’m sorry you had to find out this way.”
He could not have imagined worse news. Even if he survived Kate had doomed him to a lifetime of really average sex. Death would be a blessing in that regard.

Jazz ran a hand across his face, pulling at the stubbled flesh of his cheeks and jaw. His thoughts were a mess. His emotions weren’t far behind. She was making a terrible mistake. Jazz fought for the wisdom to choose the precise words that would appeal to her better sense.

“Are you stupid?”

“I’m not asking for your blessing, Jazz,” she said.

“Good,” he said, “cuz you ain’t getting it.” Jazz groaned. “This day just keeps getting better and better.”

Katy knew that he was terribly hurt by the news. Her heart went out to him in that old familiar way.

She groaned. “Why do I have to love you, Jazz?”

“Asking myself that same question.”

She nodded slowly and choked back a bit of emotion. “Well, at least I know you won’t be off with some other woman.”

The words hit him in the chest just as hard as that boot a few minutes before. God damn, he use to think there was nothing worse than being dumped by a broad. But jazz was wrong. Getting dumped and off’ed by a broad was worse. Jazz blinked once as Katy stood. There were tears in her eyes. The Lieutenant came over and leveled an ARP at Jazz.

“Shall I, ma’am?” he asked.

Jazz’ heart froze waiting for the word and the shot that would follow. She looked at him for a long moment.

“No,” she replied, pushing the weapon away. “Take him to the dungeon. I will take care of him later myself.”

“What about the others?” asked the Lieutenant.

“Eliminate them all,” she said.
Jazz was hauled up by the arms and dragged down the passageway. His legs were still unsteady. He wasn’t about to go willingly to death or some dark dungeon, but he was no match for his captors, at least not now. Jazz lowered his head and let the guards do all the work.
Behind him the sounds of erupting gunfire thundered among the narrow passages. The screams of dying men followed, falling silent after the brief but furious fusillade. Jazz couldn’t help but feel sorry for the men, never mind the whipping they had given him. That was the sort of death best deserved for madmen and cowards. A man should go down fighting, jazz thought. As he was dragged away Jazz resolved to do just that.