Epilogue
Jason retrieved two bottles of beer from the cooler. On his way down to the yard he heard the same cursing he’d been listening to for the last hour. Why in hell does he put himself through this? He descended the steps down to the gate, opened it, and let it slam shut behind him.
As he entered the scrapyard, Jason stepped on something sharp. Shit! I should have put on my shoes. He found the old ’49 pickup where it always sat. The hood was up and more cursing erupted from beneath it. Jason placed the cold bottle on the fender and peered down at the little engine block, and the back of his father’s head.
“You’re blocking my light!”
“Sorry … hey, why don’t you take a break?”
“In a minute … I think I’ve almost got it.”
Jason wasn’t sure what his father almost got under the hood, but he knew his father, in his own way, was happy. He was away from the necessity of making life and death decisions; the crushing stress of too many people wanting too many things from him.
Jason plopped himself down on the rickety lawn chair and took a pull from his beer. The warm Santa Ana wind was kicking up and he used his shirtsleeve to wipe his forehead. Two months had elapsed since his release, by Boomer, from HAB 12 … actually, now HAB 331, within the Minian’s Zoo. Nothing was the same now. Maybe that was for the better. Billy and Orion were out there somewhere, catching zombies for the government. They’d started their own little business, had asked Jason to join them. But that life had no appeal for him, not in the least. More than half the population was gone. But the country, the world, was on the mend. And on the positive side, people around the globe had stopped fighting each other—Jason wondered how long that would last. He wondered if the planet had really returned back to some nostalgic period in time where helping each other actually trumped taking advantage of one another. Was there ever such a time?
Nan was still the president and not just loved by the people, but beloved. It had turned out that a woman president, at least this one, was a very good thing. Eventually the peovils would be dealt with … from what he’d heard from Billy, they were making good progress around the world.
Ricket was still on the Minian and, along with Granger and Bristol, getting the ship fully operational again. Jason’s thoughts moved to his friend Traveler, and he smiled. Over the last few months, the number of rhino-warriors had grown exponentially. The habitat they’d been living in had not been large enough to support their now independent society. What had surprised Jason the most was that Traveler and the others wanted to live on Earth. The last Jason heard was a significant section of North Korea had been appropriated for them. With a late influx of peovils into that geographic area, much of that section of the world was unpopulated … at least by humans.
His father extricated himself from the old Ford. He found the beer and brought it to his lips. He faced Jason and leaned against the truck’s front grill. “I over-tightened a sparkplug. I can’t get it the hell out off there.”
Jason laughed. “Maybe I can loosen it. That, or we’ll get one of the droids … Teardrop’s around here someplace.”
His father continued to stare at him. “What are you going to do with yourself?”
“I’m doing it … absolutely nothing.”
“You’re going to drive me crazy.”
“I’m going to drive you crazy?” Jason answered with a smirk.
But Jason knew he was driving his father crazy, and everyone else, too. Nan repeatedly told him to find something to do with his life. If he was adamant he wasn’t going back into space, then he needed to do something … hell, maybe I’ll get a job.
“You know, Dira’s been leaving me messages. Says you’ve been avoiding her … won’t talk to her.”
“Dad, that’s none of your concern. But, if you have to know, I’ve decided there’s no sense in pursuing that relationship. Think about it … she’s certainly got more important things going on in her life than me … like overseeing an entire planet. So, just drop it, Dad … that ship’s already sailed. Got it?” Jason scooted his chair closer to a stack of wheel rims—he sat back and stretched out his long legs. “I’m fine right here.”
The admiral was no longer looking at his son. Off in the distance, where an old Cadillac sat next to a battered school bus, two figures were approaching. “Looks like we’ve got company.”
“Well, they can just turn around and head back the way they came,” Jason said, taking a swig of beer. Shuttles had been coming and going—phase-shifting in and out from the underground base all day. He’d head down there tomorrow; see what the hubbub was all about. He glanced in the direction of the path again. He now recognized them. It was Ricket on the left and Dira on the right. She was now close enough for him to see that she was smiling. He wondered why she had on a spacer’s jumpsuit.
They stopped five feet from Jason’s chair.
“Good afternoon, Captain,” Ricket said.
“You don’t have to call me that any more, Ricket. Jason will work just fine. And good afternoon to you, too.”
“Don’t I get a hello, Jason?”
“How are you, Dira? I’m actually more than a little surprised to see you. Why would the Queen of Jhardon be standing in my scrapyard, wearing a spacer’s jumpsuit?”
“That’s a fair question,” she replied, pulling up another rickety lawn chair next to his. She took his half-empty bottle and drained it in one swig. “The thing is … I’m not the queen of anything. With the help of my good friend Ricket here, and the delivery of one, I’m sure, very expensive MediPod … my mother, the real queen, has made a full recovery.”
Jason continued to stare at her. He saw that his father and Ricket were enjoying the show. Before Jason could think of something clever to say, Dira was out of her chair and sitting in his lap. Her arms went around his neck and she kissed him long and hard.
When she finally let him catch a breath, he let himself smile a little. “I’m not so sure this chair can support two of us.”
“That’s okay … I’m used to taking chances. And I’m not going anywhere.”
The End
Thank you for reading Call To Battle. You have reached the end of the Scrapyard Ship series!
Brain cells are already at work conjuring up new adventures for one, perhaps two, new spinoff series. Hope you join me when that happens—together, we’ll uncover how amazing the Minian truly is … remember, much of that vessel is still unexplored. I’ve come to think of the Scrapyard Ship cast of characters as real living beings. Personally, I’m still curious what’s in store for Mollie and Boomer. Will Traveler, Billy, Rizzo, Dira, and Captain Jason Reynolds reunite to face new villains? Perhaps there’s trouble brewing … somewhere within the multiverse. Hmm.
If you enjoyed Call to Battle, please leave a review on Amazon.com – it really, really helps!
To be notified of the next spinoff series of books, send an email to: [email protected], Subject Line: Scrappy Spinoff. I’d love to hear from you! Thank you, again, for joining me on these SciFi romps into space and beyond.
Acknowledgments
I am grateful for the ongoing support I receive for the Scrapyard Ship series books, as well as for the other books I’ve written. This book, number nine, came about through the assistance and combined contributions of others. First, I’d like to thank my mother, Lura Genz, for her tireless work as my first-phase creative editor and a staunch cheerleader of my writing. I’d like to thank Mia Manns for her phenomenal line and developmental editing … she is an incredible resource. And Eren Arik produced another magnificent cover design. I think it’s my favorite so far. I’d also like to thank those in my writer’s group who have brought fresh ideas and perspectives to my creativity, elevating my writing as a whole. Others who provided fantastic support include Lura and James Fischer, Sue Parr, and Chris DeRrick.
Other books by MWM
Scrapyard Ship
(Scrapyard Ship series, Book 1)
&nb
sp; HAB 12
(Scrapyard Ship series, Book 2)
Space Vengeance
(Scrapyard Ship series, Book 3)
Realms of Time
(Scrapyard Ship series, Book 4)
Craing Dominion
(Scrapyard Ship series, Book 5)
The Great Space
(Scrapyard Ship series, Book 6)
Call To Battle
(Scrapyard Ship series, Book 7)
Mad Powers
(Tapped In series, Book 1)
Lone Star Renegades
(Lone Star Renegades Series, Book 1)
Scrapyard Ship 7: Call to Battle Page 25