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In matching blue raincoats, our shoes were our showboats.
“Anyway, that’s when we heard the engines starting up,” Ryder was telling Jenny, gesturing with his fork, “It’s a spaceport, so at first we didn’t realize what was happening at first, but we turn around in the cruiser’s taking off, with all our stuff still in it!”
The three of them, Jenny and her new friends Flyn and Ryder, sat in the booth of a tatty spaceport dinner. They had ordered food while they divided up the money and told each other their stories. Jenny wasn’t entirely sure they believed her tale.
“That’s so horrible,” Jenny gapped, just holding her fork in the uneaten red and gray concoction she had been told was a local seafood dish.
“You know, you’re lucky we didn’t end up sold into slavery or a Trexotune meat market?” Flyn admonished his brother.
“Yes, Flyn, I know,” Ryder said, sounding like they had, had this conversation before.
“I always told you Dummie and his crew were bad news, but did you listen?” Flyn continued.
“I know Flyn,” Ryder said, pinching his nose.
According to Ryder, he had hitched a ride with a few ‘friends’ from their home planet to pick up Flyn at boarding school for the summer holidays. At least he thought they were his friends until they stopped at the space port to refuel and left the brothers stranded with just the clothes on their backs. It was only luck that Flyn took his tazingo—the instrument he had been playing-- with him when they left the ship. With no other options, they hoped they could get enough to cash to pay for a ride on a passing vessel by preforming on the promenade. Apparently, a lot of wandering musicians found their way there.
Maybe Flyn was right not to like his brother’s friends.
“Meat Market?” Jenny asked, her fork freezing above the food.
“Trexes view the flesh of their enemies as a delicacy.” Ryder explained, “And the whole planet’s on bad terms with…all clan-governed worlds. Sometimes people go missing.”
Kinda wished Dad had mentioned that. Jenny pushed the seafood dish away, suddenly not hungry. She wished there was some way she could help the brothers.
Then she realized there was.
“What if I give you a lift back home?” Jenny offered, “It might be bit cramped, but I think I can fit all three of us. I just need to pick up a few things and then I can take you straight there.”
Ryder’s face lit up. “That’d actually be great.”
“Have you learned nothing from what just happened?” Flyn demanded.
“It’s not like we have a lot of option’s, Flyn,” Ryder argued, “We have no way to contact Mum, that money’s only going to get us so far, and if she’s willing to take us—”
“Fine,” Flyn sighed before murmuring to himself, “Sure, take the crazy girl to the slums, I’m sure it’ll go swell.”
“Slums?” Jenny asked, her eyebrow raised.
“We don’t exactly come from the nicest part of the galaxy,” Ryder explained, “Or the nicest part of the planet. Don’t worry, we’ll keep you safe. Speaking of which, why don’t you let me return the favor by showing you the best places to get what you need?”
We kicked around from stairway to station.
We made a sensation with the gadabout crowd.
“I didn’t know there were so many types of clothes,” Jenny mused, holding up an olive-green tunic. The color wasn’t that different from what the shirt she was currently wearing—she was still in the clothes she had been born in at this point—but the design was totally different, with sleeves that went to her elbows, the bottom going to just above her knees, and it was embroidered at the neck in sleeves with a dark emerald green. She turned to Ryder, “Why are there so many different types of clothes?
“Well, because there are many different types of people,” Ryder explained, “With many types of taste.” After a beat he added, “Taste, that’s like, another way of saying the things people like.”
“I know what taste means, they didn’t put just combat skills in here,” Jenny pointed to her head with an amused grinned.
“You’re not even a week old, how am I supposed to know what you know,” Ryder reasoned with a smile.
Jenny smiled, then just stared at him for a moment, examining Ryder’s clothes. His shirt was a medium red, over it was a dark brown jacket. Dark fingerless gloves adorned his hands and he wore a knitted stripped cap over shaggy light brown hair. He also wore pants of a thick blue material and black boots with mysterious stains all over them. It was so…different from how the men of her Messaline dressed, or her father for that matter. And it looked great on him.
“Ah, Jen,” Ryder said awkwardly, “What are you doing?”
“Trying to learn about your taste,” Jenny explained, before adding, “Jen?”
“What?” Ryder responded, “It’s a good nickname for Jenny.”
“Isn’t Jenny already a nickname?” Flyn spoke off from where he was off next to a row of satchels.
Jenny turned around, taking note of Flyn’s taste. He had his brother’s slightly long hair, but his style was much neater, and he wore a black and white suit with a crest of some sort. She thought it was some sort of uniform from his music school.
“Hey, concern yourself with your own taste,” Flyn protested, blocking his body behind the stand.
Jenny laughed, but her smile faded, as she realized something. Turning back to Ryder, she said, “I don’t know what my taste are.” A strange sensation she couldn’t quite describe went through her body, as it hit her how little she actually knew about herself. Without the army, without her father, who was she?
“Well, you’re just going to have to look around and find out what your tastes are, won’t you?” Flyn said, picking up another shirt for her to look at.
And oh, what a bargain, we’re two easy targets
For the old men at the off tracks who’ve paid in palaver and crumpled old dollars which we squirreled away in our rat trap hotel by the freeway.
Her taste appeared to be simply cut shirts, perhaps with a bit of embroidery here or there, but mostly plain, and simple pants similar to the pair she was currently wearing, bras and briefs and warm socks, and brown leather satchel to go hands-free with any supplies she needed to store.
Of course, with two bags in each hand, she wasn’t going hands free at the moment.
“This is it?” Ryder asked as they approached her shuttle.
“Yeah,” Jenny beamed, before activating the opening, “You want to come in while I set this down? I mean, I won’t be long, but it feels sort of awkward just leaving you out here.”
“Ah, sure,” Ryder agreed.
The shuttle opened and Jenny led them inside. “There’s not much room.” She admitted, walking down a red corridor. “Makes it easy to pilot, though. Still, I think we could make it work.” She sat the bags down in a room with two cots, one on either wall.
“Not bad for a newborn,” Ryder commented, earning him a look for Flynn. Jenny got the impression Flynn still didn’t believe her. “So, there’s a travel supplies shop not too far from here. Dad’s crew used to get most of their food rations from there back in the day.”
Jenny began counting what was left of her half of the money out. “How much do you think this will get me?” The brothers had helped her make sense of the monetary system before when she was paying at the clothing booth, but she still didn’t feel quite confident in her understanding of it. She still had a lot to learn, it seemed.
Ryder took her hand and eyes the coins carefully. “If we go for the cheaper stuff, we should be able to get you a couple of months’ worth for one person.” After a beat he added, “After that, I think we might need to perform an encore for anything else.” They both turned to look at Flynn.
Flynn just stared at them both for a minute before apparently realizing what Ryder was implying, shaking his head. “No. Alright, no way! That last time was because we needed it, but I refused to play out there again!”
“Look, even if she got everything she needed at the shop, she’s going to need more money than this to get anywhere, and it’s not like we couldn’t use the money either.” Ryder added.
“I don’t want to make him do it if he’s not comfortable with it,” Jenny spoke up, “Isn’t there some other way I could get more if I need it?”
“Here? Probably nothing any of us would like,” Ryder responded, rubbing the back of his head, “Alright, give me a minute, I’ll think of something.”
However, that was when Flynn sighed. “Alright, I’ll do it. But both of you owe me.”
“I can live with that,” Jenny said going in for a hug.
And we slept-in Sundays
A bell went off as they walked into the little shop, where a skinny plum-colored creature with long tusks sticking out from his mouth narrowed the singular eye in the middle of his face as the teenagers entered.
Jenny barely noticed this, staring at the walls, which were covered with tools, food, containers in all sorts of shapes and sizes and colors. Creamy white triangles. Shriveled dried red slabs. Onyx black cans next to coils of neon yellow rope. Jade-colored plastic. And there were still shelves loaded with even more shapes, more colors.
“You’re still here Oleg?” Ryder asked someone, getting Jenny’s attention.
The creature, Oleg apparently, looked over at Ryder in confused surprise.
“Ah, I don’t know if you remember me, but I came in once or twice with my father, Alden Wesson?” Ryder reminded him tentively.
Oleg’s face lit up and he actually stepped out from behind the counter, walking towards them. “Long time no see, Ryder,” He grinned, pulling the boy into an embrace, before looking at his brother, “And this must be Flynn.”
Soon, Flynn found himself wrapped in a hug at well. “Ah, okay, this is happening.”
As Oleg broke the embrace, he grinned at the boy, patting him on the back. “Your father was one of favorite customers before, the um…” His face fell, “It was a miserable day around here when I heard about that. The universe’s a worst place for not having him in it.” That was when he must have seen the tazingo on Flynn’s back, as his eyes widened. “Well, I’ll be. He finally found a use for that.”
Flynn pulled at the strap, a surprised look on his face. “Wait, what? I thought he got it from the charity program.”
“Charity program?” Oleg repeated before scoffing, shaking his head, “No, he won it off a clan ambassador in a game of wajin.”
“You were too young to remember,” Ryder said, “Mum was furious at him for gambling.”
“Dude, you’re only a year older than me,” Flynn repeated, “How do you even remember it?”
“What is everyone even talking about?” Jenny asked, feeling out of the loop.
That was when the brothers seemed to remember what they were there for. “So, Oleg, this is our friend Jenny. She’s starting on a journey across the galaxy, but she doesn’t have anything in the way of rations or supplies. It’s kind of a long story. Do you think you could help us out.”
“For Alden Wesson’s boys, anything,” Oleg said, “But first, the story. Your father’s ship had a stopover in port…
Your parents were anxious.
Your cool was contagious, at the old school.
You left without leaving a note for your
Grieving sweet mother, while your brother was so cruel.
Jenny would admit Oleg was an excellent storyteller. Making the wajin game seem like an epic battle, the other players fierce foes the boys’ father had defeated one by one.
“That was when your father threw the hounds so far, they actually slide out of the ring!” Oleg finished.
Flynn gapped, and Ryder beamed, looking impressed. Apparently, they understood this game better than Jenny did. The best she could figure out was that it involved tossing craved stones or clay figurines in the shape of local animals.
“At that point, the ambassador just gave up and handed the thing over,” Oleg finished, gesturing to the instrument on Flyn’s back, “And as they say, the rest is history.”
“Yeah,” Flynn said awkwardly, tugging at the strap, as if he wished his father hadn’t won the thing.
“Now,” Oleg said, “Let’s see if I can’t help your friend.”
Oleg took her around the shop, showing her the different options. There were bags of powdered portions and freeze-dried grain. Cans that heated themselves and meals that rehydrated when one added water. Pink disks that were apparently some kind of portable sweet, because “Sometimes you just need something sweet.”
As he saw showing Jenny a device that converted waste into food, Jenny noticed a sleek, cylindrical object. She picked it up to get a better look. “Excuse me, but what’s this?”
“Sonic pen,” Oleg said, “Excellent mutli-purpose tool.”
“Mmmm,” Jenny mused, “Might be useful.”
By the time they had finished she had not just the sonic pen, but a medical scanner, two months’ worth of basic medical supplies, and extra pack of extra-strength anesthetic, two crates each of the self-heating cans and the freeze-dried meals, two backs of freeze-dried grain, a vacuum-sealed pack of the sweets, a water purifier and an old-fashioned toilet plunger.
“Is this enough?” Jenny asked, counting out the money, trying to figure out what she could put back if she needed to.
Oleg counted it. “It’s just right.” He said, taking the money and loading the crates on a trolley for her. “It’s been a pleasure doing business with you Jenny. I say that to everyone, but this time I really mean it.”
“It was pleasure meeting you,” Jenny said, taking the trolley Oleg had lent them to get it back to the shuttle.
“Thanks, Oleg,” Ryder called out, helping her push, “It was good, seeing you again.”
“You, too,” Oleg agreed, calling after them, “Don’t be such strangers!”
And here in the alleys your spirits were rallied
As you learned to make a fast buck
In bathroom and barrooms
On dumpsters and heirlooms.
We bit our tongues.
Sucked our lips into our lungs ‘till we were falling.
Such was our calling.
Jenny did a final spin, as the song ended, causing the crowd to clap and throw even more money.
“Thank you, thank you,” Ryder said, beginning to gather up the coins, “You’ve all been a beautiful audience.”
Once that was done, the trio began to walk down the promenade, heading in the direction of the docks. “So, I think I got it now,” Jenny said, as they walked.
“Got what now?” Ryder asked.
“Flynn plays the instrument, and you’re the one who sings,” Jenny responded.
Ryder chuckled. “You make it sound like we’re one of those family band groups.”
“Have you considered it?” Jenny questioned.
Ryder didn’t say anything for a moment, making a dramatic thinking face before saying, taking Jenny by the hand, “Only if you stay on to do your dance routine.” He then twirled her, making her laugh.
That was when they heard a voice from the side asked, “Excuse me?”
They all turned to see a creature—male if the voice was any indication—with a head consisting of folds of opalescence skin, tentacles sticking out of the sleeves of his long umber and saffron robes. “Forgive me for intruding. My name’s Trarmek-Min, legal consultant for the Autyn Clan. I’m holding a little business get together and I was hoping I might get an encore performance for my guests. I would make it worth your while.”
Realizing she couldn’t make the decision unilaterally, she looked at the boys, who seemed rather apprehensive suddenly.
“Thanks for the offer, my Lord but we’re actually leaving in a few hours,” Ryder spoke up tensely, his fingers suddenly digging into Jenny’s wrists at he grabbed his brother’s wrist with his other hand the group slowly turned around, hurrying back the way they came.
“That…wasn’t really a job offer, was it?” Jenny asked in a low voice, glancing back at Tarmek-Min and remembering what Ryder said about people going missing. Military skills kicking in, her eyes darted everywhere, looking for any potential attackers.
“Maybe yes, maybe no,” Ryder said, “But even if it was, Clan types never deal fairly with the likes of us, and the Autyns are one of skeeviest clans. We would have been lucky if tossing us out without paying was the worst thing that happened.”
“That’s terrible!” Jenny exclaimed in a low whisper.
“Good thing they don’t run the galaxy, right?” Flynn quipped in a clearly sarcastic tone.
Ryder leaned into Jenny’s ear. “I think it might be a good idea to do a few evasive maneuvers before going back to the ship. “
And in our hovel we fuse like a family.
But I will not mourn for you.
So take up your makeup
And pocket your pills away.
We’re kings among runaways.
On The Bus Mall.
We’re down on the bus mall
“So, the clans rule this entire galaxy?” Jenny said, walking in between the two brothers as she listened to Ryder’s explanation of the local government, keeping her eyes peeled for any sign they were followed.
As Ryder suggested, they decided to make a few evasive maneuvers before returning to ship, slipping behind the backs of several buildings, making numerous turns, into an aera that even Jenny knew looked shady.
“Well, technically the Council of Clans does,” Ryder explained, “Each clan rules a different inhabited world, except for the Ojeda clan. The Ojedas head up the council, the keep order at the meetings, break any tie votes, can…what’s that word?” He seemed to search for that word for a moment.
“Veto,” Flyn spoke up.
“Right, “Ryder replied, “They had veto power over…legal stuff, what’s the word again…”
“Legislation,” Flyn said.
“That’s the word,” Ryder declared with a snap of his fingers, “Thanks bud.”
Jenny nodded her understanding of their explanation. It seemed rather more complex than the government of Messaline, but then again, Messaline didn’t have a chance to form a government outside of military structure. Surely, they would get to it. She hadn’t martyred herself for nothing. However, she still had questions. “But they’re not…very good at governing? At least, that’s what you made it sound like earlier.”
“How does that old Earth saying go, power corrupts?” Ryder responded, “Some of the clans are good, care about their subjects, others are…vying for power with each other, always trying to one up one another, treating the lower classes like dirt. The Autyn clan is firmly in the latter category.”
Jenny’s hearts did a leap as she realized, “And we just rebuffed one of their employees.” That couldn’t be good. She and her new friends were in danger.
“It’s alright,” Ryder soothed, as if readying her mind, “We’ll just…stay away from the promenade, take the long way around to the ship, keep our heads down, it’ll be fine.”
As if one cue, the back door of one of the buildings burst open, the shouts from inside spilling out into the street, as a young woman with pastel yellow skin and long caramel-brown hair, dressed in rags, rushed out into the street as if running for her life, followed by two bottlenosed creatures with deep umber skin and large pointed ears ran out behind, her, their faces contorted in anger, one of them shouting in a language Jenny couldn’t understand.
But she didn’t need to understand their language to see that the poor girl was in trouble.
Jenny immediately took off down the street. “Jen, wait, don’t—” Ryder began, “So much for keeping our heads down.” Then he took off after her, followed by Flyn.
Among all the urchins and old Chinese merchants
Of the old town
We reigned at the pool hall
With one iron cue ball.
And we never let the bastards get us down.
By the time Jenny reached them, the bottlenosed men had caught up with their prey, one of them grabbing her by the hair, causing the poor girl to scream, tears streaming down her face and frantic pleas spilling from her lips. Knowing she had to act fast, Jenny hit the man closest to her with such force he fell back into his companion, causing him to let go of the girl’s hair as they both fell into a semi-conscious heap on the ground.
Unfortunately, the poor girl fell as well, scampering back fearfully and sobbing even harder.
As Jenny crouched down, she got a good look at the girl for the first time. Her skinny arms were covered with little cuts and various shades of green, as if bruised—in fact one of them looked like a handprint—and there was some sort of thick black collar wrapped around her neck.
Jenny’s face contorted in anger. The girl must have seen that, because she held up an arm over her face, as if expecting another attack.
“No, no, no, I’m not mad at you,” Jenny said, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. Well, scare you even more.” Her voice softened even more as the girl continued to back away, “It’s alright, I’m not going to –”
That was when Flyn and Ryder reached them. “How is she?” Ryder asked, crouching down as Flynn inched away, as if trying to give them room. Maybe he was.
“Terrified,” Jenny replied, her hearts sinking “And I think I just made it worst.” She might want to work her way up to rescuing civilizations. She should probably get down rescuing one girl first.
“Let me try,” Ryder said, before address the girl in a language Jenny didn’t understand. “Na-pike mae bear-la?”
“You speak her language?” Jenny asked, surprised.
“We have a lot of Illo working in the mines,” Ryder said, “It’s almost a required second language in school.” Then he started talking to the girl again.
“Aye,” The girl spoke up, “I speak enough.”
“Alright, we can work with that,” Jenny began, “What’s your name?”
“Lalaine.” The girl answered.
“Well, Lalaine, I’m Jenny and these are my friends Flyn and Ryder,” Jenny explained, “I wasn’t trying to hurt you. I just…wanted to stop those men from hurting you.”
Lalaine said nothing, wiping at her wet face.
Jenny glanced over at the two men who fortunately had gone from semi-conscious to out like a light, they’re chest heaving up and down. So far no one had come to see what had happened, but she didn’t know how long that would last. She looked back at Lalaine. “You’re in trouble, aren’t you?”
Lalaine shook her head, laughing bitterly. “I’ve been in trouble for the last two years.”
“If you come with us, we can try to help you.” Jenny offered urgently, offering her a hand up.
Lalaine looked between Jenny and the unconscious men before taking the offered hand. Jenny immediately pulled her up, then wordlessly, as if silently commuting with each other, they ran away from the scene.
At least she had the running thing down.
And we laughed off the quick tricks,
The old men with limp dicks
On the colonnades of the waterfront part.
“I didn’t think I would be needing these so soon,” Jenny said, sitting down with the medical scanner in her hand, on the bunk next to Lalaine, who was currently wrapped in a slivery emergency blanket, eying her suspiciously.
“Look, I can see you still don’t trust us,” Jenny said, “But I really just want to make sure there’s no injuries that need attending to that we don’t know about. Sometimes people are injured and even they don’t realize it until it’s too late.”
Lalaine seemed to relent, pulling back the blanket. Jenny ran the device over her, causing it to beep. Her eyes widened as she read the scans. “Okay, it doesn’t look like you have any internal injuries from the fall, but it does say your dehydrated and moderately malnourished.”
“Master Krokug’s never doled out generous portions,” Lalaine commented, as much to herself as it was to them.
“Master Krokug?” Jenny repeated, “Was that one of the men…” Then it all clicked together. The collar. What Flyn had said earlier about them being lucky they weren’t sold into slavery. “Are you a slave?”
Lalaine instantly pulled away, wrapping the blanket back around her, saying almost under her breath. “I wasn’t always.” She then just sat there, staring at them all with a look of dread on her face, as if waiting for the other ship to drop.
Ryder was the first to guess what she was thinking. “Look, we knew what we were getting into back there when we went after Krokug and…friend?”
“Wijun buddy,” Lalaine replied, her face becoming stone, “Master has a bit of a…gambling problem. Put me in tonight.”
“What, you mean like he bet you?” Flyn asked, his face horrified.
Lalaine nodded.
“Cripes,” Flynn rubbed his face, “That’s—that’s horrible.”
“It is,” Jenny said, gapping in horror. Regaining her composure, she addressed Lalaine. “Do you have any family? Somewhere safe we can take you?” Her hearts plummeted again as it hit her that Lalaine’s family could be enslaved as well. How did she keep messing up?
Lalaine looked up at the ceiling. “I don’t even know.” She lowered her head back down, shaking it. She finally looked at Jenny, her eyes hollow, her face skeptical. “You really want to help me, you could start by getting this thing off me.” She put a hand against the collar.
Jenny just looked at the collar. She hadn’t noticed, but there was a piece of plastic at the front, identical to the rest of it, but it was clearly a separate piece that had been attached. There must have been sort of key, otherwise Lalaine would have probably done it herself by now. That was when she remembered the sonic pen.
Quickly pulling it out, she leaned over to the front of the collar, pushing down on the top of the pen, moving it back and forth until there was a click as the locking mechanism opened.
No one did anything for a moment, then Lalaine pulled the front part of the collar off and staring at it, her face contorted in disbelief. Suddenly she grabbed the other part of the collar and tore it from her neck like it had burned her, throwing it to the ground before lunging at Jenny. Before she could react, Jenny found herself staring into the stained gray of Lalaine raggy dress as the other young woman hugged her, crying again.
“Gamercy,” Lalaine sobbed into Jenny’s shoulder in a hoarse voice, “Gamercy.”
Jenny managed to look up at Ryder, hoping for a translation. She probably should have invested in some sort of translation device.
“She’s saying thank you.” Ryder explained.
Jenny thought about everything Lalaine must have suffered, to react like this, and suddenly became overwhelmed. She gently wrapped her arms around the other girl, returning the embraced. “It was my pleasure.” She whispered back.
They just stayed there like that for Jenny didn’t even know how long. She’d stay as long as her new friend needed. She rubbed her back, whispering assures in her ear. Then finally the crying stopped, Lalaine’s body going still. Alarmed, Jenny pulled back, and found the other girl’s body limp, her chest moving up and down.
Had she cried herself to sleep?
Jenny fumbled with Lalaine’s unconscious form, trying to put her in a comfortable position on the cot, but only wound up in a tangled mess of arms and legs.
“Here, let us help,” Flynn said, gently taking Lalaine’s torso as Flynn took her arms. Jenny pulled back, putting the blanket aside before grabbing Lalaine’s ankles, placing the girl gently on the cot before covering her with the blanket. “I need to get us off this spaceport before Krokug or Trarmek-Min of anyone else I’ve managed to anger in the last twenty-four hours come after us. Do you mind watching her?” She didn’t think Lalaine should be alone right now, but someone had to pilot the shuttle.
“Sure,” Ryder agreed, walking over to the other cot and sitting down.
As four in the morning, came on, cold and boring
We huddled close
In the bus stop enclosure enfolding
Our hands tightly holding.
Jenny had been flying for about half an hour when she realized she had no clue where she was going.
She had gotten the name of the Wesson brothers’ home planet from there earlier when they told her about Dummie abandoning them. Unfortunately, she never thought of putting in the coordinates for Tateras. She was too busy thinking about corrupt clans and slavery and slums.
“Hey,” A voice said behind her.
Jenny turned around to see Ryder standing in the doorway.
“I just wanted to see how you were doing after…everything.” He explained, walking up to the pilot’s chairs. “Mind if I sit down?”
“Sure,” Jenny agreed.
As Ryder sat down to her, Jenny leaned back, exhaling. For a moment, no one spoke until Ryder asked, “Want to talk about it?”
Jenny wasn’t sure she knew where to begin. At last, she said, “It wasn’t like I didn’t know cruelty happened. That injustice happened. I was born in the middle of a war zone that killed generations within the span of a week. I should be prepared for it, but…” She found herself at a loss for words to explain her thoughts.
“It didn’t make seeing difference flavors of injustice or cruelty any easier,” Ryder guessed.
“Yes!” Jenny said, turning her upper body towards him, grateful that someone had put her thoughts into words. “That’s it exactly!” After a beat, she asked, “Is that’s all I’m going to find out there? Different flavors of cruelty and injustice?”
Ryder didn’t say anything for a moment, then asked, “Has that been all you’ve seen so far?”
Jenny thought back through the past week. Of the kind men who had helped her when she crashed. Of Donna calling her father to the carpet for not giving Jenny a chance. Of two whole factions willing to put down arms and change for the better when they learned the ugly truth about themselves. About her own refusal to kill Cobb.
Of two boys who let her join in on their act when they didn’t even know her.
“No,” Jenny answered finally, “No, I think there’s so much more than that.”
“And today you were a part of that,” Ryder said, “Lalaine’s got a long road ahead of her, but thanks to you, at least she’s free. And of course, there’s what you did for us.”
That was when Jenny remembered. “Speaking of which, I actually need to put in the coordinates for Tateras.” She pulled her consol in front of her and began pulling up the navigator.
That was when it appeared something occurred to Ryder as well. “Now that you mention it, can I ask one more favor from you?”
But here in our hovel, we fuse like a family.
But I will not mourn for you.
Flyn and Ryder’s mother was a frighteningly thin woman with an oval-shaped face, and dishwater blonde curls pulled back in a ponytail. She was dressed in gray coveralls and a yellow hard hat, covered in some kind of residue, soot or dirt maybe.
“I knew that Dummie Falon was bad news,” She ranted from the other end of the video call, tugging at a loose curl, “I should have never let you go with him. Are you two alright?”
“Yeah, we’re both alright,” Ryder assured her.
“Yeah,” Flynn said, before holding up the tazingo, “Still got this stupid thing.”
“Thank Heavens for that,” Mrs. Wesson said, “Remember Flynn, that’s your ticket out of here. Now, if that poor girl wants to be dropped off first, let her, then you two high tail back here, you understand me?”
“Yes, Ma’am,” The boys said about the same time, causing Jenny to smile.
“And Jenny, dear,” Mrs. Wesson said, getting the girl’s attention.
Jenny turned just enough she could look at the video call while sitting the coordinates, “Yes?”
Mrs. Wesson’s voice got weepy as she said, “Thank you for rescuing my boys.”
Jenny’s hearts did a strange little clinch. “You’re welcome, ma’am.”
“Valenica!” A man’s voice called from somewhere they couldn’t see.
Valenica Wesson turned her head, calling, “Be right there!” Before turning back to them, “I have to go. I’ll talk to all of you later. I love you.”
“Love you too, Mum.” Ryder said.
“Love you too,” Flynn added.
The call ended in the three were left in silence for a moment. “Your Mum seems nice.” Jenny commented.
“Yeah, she’s great,” Ryder agreed.
“But what she was talking about?” Jenny said, “The tazingo being your ticket out of here?”
Flynn leaned his head back, as if exasperated. “Ever since I got that stupid scholarship Mum’s got this plan for me to find a rich patron to pay my way off of Tateras, live in the uppers as a glorified servant.”
“She’s never put it quite like that….” Ryder responded.
“But that’s what entertainers basically are,” Flynn cut him off, “Besides, if it wasn’t for this stupid tazingo, we wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place.”
“Hey, I’m the one with the crappy friends,” Ryder pointed out, “Dummie never liked you anyhow.”
“Thanks, Ryder,” Flynn snarked, “Yeah, that really makes me feel better.”
A thought occurred to Jenny. “But your tazingo also got you out of the mess.” She mused, glancing at him, “You play beautifully.”
“You’re just saying that because you’ve haven’t heard much music,” Flynn reasoned.
“Oh, so now you believe me,” Jenny responded in mock indignation.
“I don’t know what I believe about you,” Flynn responded.
“Hey, they don’t give out those scholarships to mediocre players,” Ryder spoke up.
Flynn glanced up at his brother. “Mediocre,” He mused, “That’s a big word for you.”
Ryder reached across Jenny to playfully punched his brother’s arm and Jenny couldn’t help but giggle. At least until she heard more footsteps coming down the hall.
Everyone turned to their heads to see a groggy-looking Lalaine pad into the cockpit.
“I’m so sorry, we didn’t mean for you to wake up alone in there,” Jenny said, beginning to get up to go to her, when they suddenly picked up turbulence, reminding her she was the one flying the ship. “Everyone okay?”
“I think so,” Ryder said, “Flynn? Lalaine?”
“Yeah, I’m good,” Flynn confirmed, sounding a bit rattled.
“Aye, I’m alright,” Lalaine spoke up, “Um, permission to enter.”
“Of course,” Jenny agreed, “You’re not a prisoner.”
Lalaine tentatively walked into the cockpit as Ryder stood up, lowering himself to the floor and sitting cross-legged. Causing the remaining three to shoot him questioning looks.
“Well, Jenny can’t give her seat up, and I’m the oldest,” Ryder reasoned.
“That’s—that’s very kind of you,” Lalaine said, taking the newly free seat on Jenny’s right, “So, um, where exactly are we going?”
“I have to drop Flynn and Ryder off on their home world,” Jenny said, “You don’t mind if we go ahead and do that, do you?”
“Hey, you’re the ones who rescued me, remember?” Lalaine said, almost two casually, “You’re the ones calling the shot. So, where do you two boys live, anyhow?”
So take off your makeup
And pocket your pills away.
We’re kings among runaways
On the bus mall.
We’re down
On the bus mall.
We’re down on the bus mall.
Down on the bus mall.
Oh ooh oh.