“My men aren’t,” said Bernard Winter.
“Yeah, we’re alright,” said Jane trying to ignore Mr. Winter’s comment. She didn’t want to kill his men, but what choice had they been given? “And thank you Charlie,” she added.
“My pleasure,” he said with a grin.
“Well, here we are again, eh son?” said Bernard.
“Here we are again,” echoed Damion and for a moment Jane thought she could detect a measure of sadness in his voice.
“You have me in your power once more. So what happens this time?”
“We leave in the ship and we never see you again.”
“You think it’s going to work out that way?”
Damion turned to his father and punched him in the face, the force of his blow sending Bernard Winter sprawling to the ground. He looked up at Damion with surprise, blood running from his lip. Damion bent down and looked his father in the eye. Jane savored the image in front of her, because in a way it felt indelible, like one of those moments that felt more real than everything else that was happening around it. When Damion had first kissed her, it had felt like that too. She had held onto that memory and always would and for some reason she felt the urge to do the same with what was happening right now: The image of Damion bending down so he was squatting on his knees and looking right at Bernard Winter, who was on the ground looking back, one of his hands propping him up. All of it happening in the front yard of the orphanage that she had grown up in. Her old life and new one meeting together, right here and now.
Damion reached into his pocket and for a moment, Jane’s breath caught in her throat as she wondered what he was going to do. But then he pulled it out. The locket.
“That’s the one she gave you,” said Bernard Winter, his voice, a whisper.
“Yes,” was all Damion said. He reached out a hand, which Bernard Winter pulled back from. Jane looked at him and realized that for the first time, he was afraid. Damion reached out once more, this time taking his father’s hand in his own despite his resistance and pressing the locket into it. He closed his father’s fingers around it.
“This is goodbye father,” he said.
“You know that’s not true,” said Bernard.
“But it is. We may see each other again, but this is the last time we’ll see each other as father and son. If you ever threaten Jane or the rest of my crew again, you’ll be no different to me than anybody else who has done the same.”
“What are you saying?” Hearing the confusion and uncertainty in those words allowed Jane for the first time to feel no small amount of sympathy for Bernard Winter.
“I’m saying that you’ll be treated the same as all the rest who have threatened the lives of those I care about. I’m saying that if I have to end you to make sure that they stay safe, then that’s exactly what I’ll do.” Damion’s voice was measured and controlled when he spoke, even though she knew that on some level, it must be killing him to say these things.
“So, that’s how it is,” said Bernard Winter, his voice quiet.
“Yes, that’s how it is. Consider the locket to be a parting gift.”
Jane could see Mr. Winter’s fingers straining, his knuckles turning white, as he gripped the locket Damion had given him.
“You’re not the person I thought you’d become,” he said.
“I’m glad of that.”
“What I mean is, I thought you’d be softer. Weaker. You’re not weak, are you?”
“No.”
“I can see that, but I don’t understand it. Whatever drives you, is different than what drives me.” Bernard’s face fell as he said these words and in the next moment, his body relaxed and his head lolled back. Damion caught him before his head struck the ground and laid him gently down, the tenderness in how he did so, surprising Jane. What was even more surprising to her, was that she was pleased to see it.
“Damion, are you good out here?” she said. He nodded, never taking his eyes off his father’s sleeping face. “There’s something I need to do.” Watching Damion with his father reminded her of the person she most needed to talk to right now.
***
Sister Margot looked at her and somewhere in those cold eyes, Jane could see the dim light of confusion. When Jane had gone back inside the orphanage, she had walked past her crew and gone straight for Sister Margot, taking her by the arm and pulling her into the nearest room and closing the door behind them. Jane had never known Sister Margot any more than she had the other Sisters. But, it felt like if she was going to talk to the snake, then she needed to address its head. Now they stood facing one another and Jane felt like she could barely get the words out that she wanted to say.
“You took me in,” she said. It seemed a good place to start. Sister Margot nodded, understanding starting to come to her eyes.
“Yes, we did,” she said. Her voice was soft like velvet and for a moment the hard edge of cruelty that could often be found when she spoke, was gone.
“You raised me.”
“Yes” Sister Margot said again.
“You were cruel to me.” The words hung in the air like they were holding on to it, refusing to let go.
“What you call cruelty, we saw as discipline.”
Jane resisted the urge to strike the woman. “I just need to know one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“Why? Why do you give children a home and then make it a nightmare?”
There was a brief moment of shame that flitted across Sister Margot’s face, making her seem for once, just a little bit human. Then it was gone, replaced by cold indifference.
“Because people are evil,” she said. “They come into this world and they destroy and they do it over and over again. An endless cycle that never changes. All those men who died out there because of the actions you took. All the people you’ve hurt in your travels. That’s what we were trying to prevent. If it means that we have to be harsh in our treatment, then so be it.”
“I get it.” For a moment she felt lighter at finally being able to see Sister Margot for what she was. “Who hurt you?” she said.
The words broke against Sister Margot’s face like water breaking against a dam. She looked confused, then angry and then fearful, like a child who had been caught doing something wrong.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, but Jane knew she had found the truth.
“It’s the same way for all the Sisters, isn’t it? Growing up I never thought of you as people. But that’s exactly what you are. You’re all people who were hurt by someone or something and this is the only way you’ve found that allows you to feel protected, isn’t that right?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she repeated, but the truth on her face revealed the lie in her words.
“Fine, don’t admit it. But I’ll tell you this. You’re not going to keep taking your pain out on others. The children are coming with us.” It had been an idea that Jane had already talked to Damion about and after some pushing from her, he had reluctantly agreed to ferry the children away from the orphanage to somewhere better. Somewhere where they could have a life that wasn’t dominated by the cruel whims of those who thought they knew best.
“You can’t,” said Sister Margot through clenched teeth and Jane could see how angry she was.
“Yes, I can,” said Jane and took several steps forward until she was face to face with one of the women who had more or less raised her. The two of them locked eyes and within moments Jane knew she had won. Sister Margot looked away.
Jane took a certain amount of satisfaction in getting her to back down and was ready to leave the conversation there, but there was still one more question to ask and one more thing that needed saying.
“What were you going to do with me, if Bernard Winter had given me to you?”
Sister Margot didn’t answer for a few moments, but when she did her tone was flat and unemotional. “We’d have locked you in the Closet.”
“For how
long?”
“Years,” she said, letting the word slide out of her throat, her voice full of venom.
“Yeah I figured it was something like that. Too bad you’ll never get the chance.”
“Yes. Too bad.” Sister’s Margot’s face had twisted itself into something hateful once again.
“What about my friends?” said Jane. Another thing she had been dying to ask. “What about Katie. Brenda. Madilyn. What happened to them?”
“They left. Just like you did,” said Sister Margot. “You were a bad influence.”
“Yes, I suppose I was.” Jane felt a smile spread over her face as she pictured her friends free and clear, seeing the universe just like she was.
“Now that we’ve cleared that up, there’s one last thing I need to say to you. Thank you.”
Confusion lit up her eyes once more and the hatred that had been in her expression washed away.
“What?” she said.
“Thank you for giving me a roof over my head. For making sure that I at least had something to eat. Thank you for raising me.”
The words seemed to strike something deep in Sister Margot and for the first time, she just looked tired.
“I think you deserve to be thanked for that much. But everything else? What you did to me and so many others was wrong and someday, I think you’ll have to pay for that. Maybe you already are. But I wouldn’t be where I am right now if you hadn’t done all those things, both good and bad.”
“Anything else?” said Sister Margot and the words sounded hollow and more than a little scared.
“No. That’s all. Goodbye Sister Margot.”
Jane left her standing there, alone.
Chapter 9
Jane looked out from the window of her room on the Winter’s Edge, watching as Cordovia disappeared into the black tides of space. It was only a few hours after they had tricked Bernard Winter and Jane had her confrontation with Sister Margot. Now she was flying away from her home planet once more and couldn’t be happier about it. She had felt weighted down there. But up here? Here, she felt free. The sound of locking lips interrupted the reverie of her thoughts and she turned to see Bry and Walter entangled on Bry’s bed, their bodies a mass of flailing arms and legs like two fish who were trying to hug each other. Mostly free, she thought.
“I’ll leave you two to whatever the hell you call this.”
Neither of them answered her. Jane shook her head as she left them and walked into the halls of the Winter’s Edge which immediately brought her into contact with a screaming child who was running down the corridor.
“Ernie what have I said about running in the halls! I already told you not to an hour ago.” Ernie, a small red headed boy stopped and looked at her with a pair of wide innocent eyes like he had done nothing wrong and would never do anything wrong as long as he lived.
“Sorry Jane,” he said.
“It’s okay,” she said giving him a smile. She watched him go and sighed. They still hadn’t figured out where to take them. Although, she knew someone in the crew who might and she found that person where he always was: in the ship’s library.
Professor Jung was in his usual reading chair with Achilles at his feet, the only difference in this near perfectly replicated image was the several children who were sitting on the floor around them, some playing with Achilles, others with their heads stuck between the covers of a book.
“How’s it going Professor?” said Jane, strolling in. The professor looked up from his book, his eyebrows arched in such a manner that indicated he was somewhat perplexed by their current situation.
“Just fine I suppose. Achilles made some new friends,” said Professor Jung nodding his head in the direction of a child who was rubbing Achille’s head while Achilles nuzzled the child’s cheek in return.
“Yeah looks like it. I know this situation isn’t ideal, but I didn’t have a choice. I couldn’t leave them there with the Sisters.”
“I understand,” said Professor Jung and Jane could tell from the look in his eye that he really did, even if he didn’t approve of having a bunch of kids roaming around the ship with impunity.
“Along those lines, I was wondering if you knew a place we could take them.”
“I might have an idea.”
“I thought you would.”
“My home planet.”
“Sannarosa” she said, her breath caught in her throat. She had always wanted to go.
“You remembered,” he said with a smile.
“I wasn’t likely to forget. Is there a particular place there that we could leave them at?”
“The library will take care of them.” Sannarosa was home to the greatest library in the universe. So large was it, that it spanned more than half the planet.
“I’ve always wanted to go to the library on Sannarosa, but is that really the best place for them?”
“It is. The library takes in children all the time. It gives them a place to live, food and an education. Many of the children it takes in grow up to work in the library when they come of age.”
Jane nodded as she felt a smile spread across her face. A library. In many ways, it’s where she wished she could have grown up.
“Thanks Professor.”
“Anytime. Are we headed there now?”
“Soon. I have to run it by Damion of course and then there’s one last thing to take care of.”
“What’s that?”
“Victor Braggs,” she said.
***
The planet’s name was Boruna, a small planet on the outer edge. It was sparsely populated, with most of the people living there being those who came to get away from everything. An out of the way vacation spot that was a well-kept secret and the kind of place that nobody would ever think to look if they were searching for you. Luckily, Damion had embedded a tracer in the stone before handing it over to Victor Braggs. Just as an added precaution. One that was about to pay off.
The Winter’s Edge had landed on the beach and Jane, Damion and Savannah had gotten off while the rest of the crew had stayed behind. It had been decided that since the three of them were the ones who delivered the stone and then had it stolen from them without payment, they would be the ones to retrieve it.
It didn’t take long to find him. He was sitting on a lounge chair on the beach, his arms hanging over his chair, his head tilted back. They approached him from all sides, Jane and Damion taking his left and right while Savannah came up behind him.
“Hey dipshit,” said Savannah, coming up behind his chair and taking off the sunglasses he had seated on his face. She tossed them into the sand several feet away.
“The fuck,” he said, sitting up in his chair, his eyes now alert.
“Long time no see,” said Jane, putting her foot on his chair and looking down at him. Victor Braggs looked back at her with a certain amount of mild surprise and disturbance.
“You should all be dead or imprisoned. Bernard Winter promised you would be.”
“Sorry to disappoint,” said Savannah. “Now cough it up asshole.”
“Cough what up?” he said.
“The stone,” said Damion, his voice cold and direct. Upon hearing his tone and perhaps sensing the promise of violence that it held, Victor Braggs sat up straighter in his chair.
“Ah, of course. The stone.”
“You’re a sharp one. Yes we mean the stone. Or we’ll just take our money. Either one,” said Savannah. “If you give us the stone of course, we’ll be sure to sell it to the cheapest and most sleazy pawnbroker we can find.”
“Look, I’m sorry I betrayed you, but Bernard Winter offered me a lot of money and he wasn’t short on threats either.”
“It doesn’t matter why you did it. The stone or the money you owe us. Now,” said Damion. His tone was commanding and held no promise of mercy if he wasn’t obeyed.
“Alright. Alright,” Victor Braggs said and reached into the small bag that was beside his chair. Jane raised her gun and pointed it at
him just in case.
“You might not want to do that,” he said and pulled from the bag a small metallic sphere that had a pulsing red line running through tis middle.
“A detonator,” breathed Savannah.
“That’s right. Now, it’s real simple. Try and take the stone from me and I set this off.”
“You’ll die too,” said Jane, having trouble believing that this man would actually kill all of them including himself just to keep the stone out of their hands.
“I’m aware of that,” said Braggs in a dry voice.
“You’d go that far just to keep us from getting paid?”
“Normally, no. But I’m afraid I don’t have the money. All the money that I got from Bernard Winter, I spent coming here and the rest was on booze and women.” He shrugged as if to say, what are you going to do about it?
“It’s just a stone with your house crest on it, right? That really worth your life?” Jane said.
“To me it is. This stone has been passed down in the Braggs family for more than three hundred years. It’s my history and my family. It’s where I came from.”
Jane lowered her gun. “Let him keep it” she said to Damion. He looked back at her in confusion.
“Let him keep it? This man betrayed us Jane. He stole from us and almost got us killed.”
“I know. But there’s been enough blood spilled already. Just let him keep it.” Damion and Savannah stared at her like they weren’t comprehending. Jane ignored them for the moment and turned to Victor Braggs.
“You’re going to pay us back. In full,” she said.
He nodded. “Of course.”
“Sometime in the next six months you’re going to transfer all of what you owe us into our account. Understand?”
“Six months? That might be a little—”
Jane glared at him. “Six months. Take it or leave it.”
Victor Braggs sighed. “Alright. Six months it is.”
Jane turned to look at Damion and Savannah who still looked uncertain.
“After what he’s done, how can we ever trust this piece of shit?” said Savannah.
“I don’t know if we can or not, but hasn’t there been enough fighting already? Do we really need to die here over a little money?”
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