Walking on the Wild Side

[Crazy Lou]

Total darkness. Lou had no idea how long he was in that dark room. Several hours at least. He was sitting in some chair, but he could not move. His hands and feet were tied. He heard steps, and a door opened. The light hurt his eyes. When Lou could finally start to see something before him, there were three or four not-so-friendly men staring at him. The younger one looked to be smarter than the others, and also the one in charge.

"So, who are you, again?" - said the Rogue from Alcatraz.

"I told you already! My name is Reed!" - answered Lou.

The young Rogue looked at the guy besides him. Both looked at the NeuraNet Pad the second guy was holding.

"Well, you look like the guy in the picture there, only older..." - said the Rogue - "But our Hacker friend here says Lewis Reed died 19 years ago... So, who are you, again??"

"I told you, I'm Reed! The LSF says I'm dead, but I'm not!"

"Yeah? And how did you get a hold of a Liberty Police freighter?"

"I robbed it when I escaped from Hunstville! Killed a guard and knocked out the pilot doing it. Don't you see all this blood on my clothes? Besides, orange is not this season's color, I'm told." - Lou's orange jail clothing has blood stains all over. His hands had dry blood on them too - "Also, why would the police be shooting the ship if it wasn't stolen? Why would they shoot their own ship? Your patrol must've told you I was floating in space without any power when they found me..."

"Yes, they did..." - said the Rogue, apparently thinking about the issue - "It's really very strange indeed. Well, I will talk to the boss, see what he thinks. Don't go anywhere!"

The four left the room, laughing, closing the door behind them. Lou was in complete darkness again.

***

Freeport 2, Bering system - Habitat Level
November, 822 A.S.

Another one of those dreams. They were always tense, although not always agitated. Lou stood up from the bed, and went for a change of clothes. His t-shirt was soaked in sweat.

Lou was dreaming a lot about past events lately. Specially his first few days as a Rogue. They became even more common since a couple weeks before, when he heard about the disbandment of the Liberty Rogues Council. The Rogues' structure was in disarray. It was inevitable, since Clyde had left the head of the Council, right after yet another Warlord disappeared. The new leadership was corrupt, and completely incompetent. The fact that the council still resisted for almost an year was practically a miracle.

The organization broke into several small groups, ones more organized than others, all basically maintaining the bases were they lived. No more real Rogue leadership around. That was a good opportunity for Lou. Living at Freeport 2, he always felt like in a corner, having to take care so not to piss off the police, or the bunters, or the zoners even. The 'diplomacy' of living at a freeport was too hard for him. Lou had no idea how the Zoners could stand that kind of life style.

Going back to be a Rogue was a real option now, at least. The leadership that perhaps could try to kill him didn't existed anymore. No one heard from them since the Rogue flagship had gone missing. And the fact that they had succesfully killed most of the leaders before them, made Lou one of the most high ranking ex-Liberty Rogues around. Ranks had no real meaning anymore, of course, but perhaps he could transform that into respect. That was much more important in the rogues than ranks. He could use that respect to build up a smuggling ring on the Malta run.

Lou walked to the comm terminal, to send a message to Alcatraz, since the ground personel should be the same, at least. But, thinking again about it, he gave up. Alcatraz was good for pirating, but not so much for smuggling. Most Rogues based there were on the lane pirating business. Although the police had no intention to approach the station, they heavily patrolled the outskirts of the asteroid field, and also both tradelanes near it. Heavy lawful traffic was not good for the smuggling business.

After some consideration, Lou decided for Niverton, on the Pennsylvania system. It was far away from any tradelanes, deep inside an asteroid field, what made police or navy patrols non-existant. And it was very close to the jumphole for California, the main route he would take. That and the fact that it had one of the biggest populations of all Rogue bases, with a steady supply of slaves and a heavy demand for cardamine, made the station perfect for his purposes.

Lou packed a small bag with all his stuff. The guitar was already in its case. He picked up the bag and his guitar case and left his room, in the direction of the freeport bar. He had to eat something and pay his tab before leaving. Lou was only paying his debts because the owner was his old friend.

After eating and drinking a couple whiskeys, Lou paid his bar bills, and the room rent. As he picked up his guitar case, he felt like playing something before leaving. He hooked his guitar to the sound equipment besides the bar...

"Dirty Blvd."

While he played, Lou wondered what Niverton would reserve for him.

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