“Maybe you should go,” Masyn mumbles, looking particularly miserable.
“Zane, I’ll grab your pack,” Lalia says. “Back door?”
“Definitely,” Zane agrees.
Lalia bolts for the back rooms. Well, this is one way to hustle every one out.
Another knock on the door.
“Damn relatives,” Masyn says, which sounds so much like something I’d say I have to bite the insides of my cheeks so I don’t laugh.
“I’ll make him go away,” Kyra says, heading for the door.
Masyn grabs Zane in a tight hug when they get to their feet. Suddenly feeling as if I’m intruding, I nudge the princesses and I head for the back door, Bat scuttling along. When I glance back, Zane’s cheerful expression has fallen away as he holds onto his father. I’ve no idea when they might see them again, and I don’t think they do either. Lalia emerges from Zane’s room, dropping their bags and doing the same. Throat unexpectedly tight, I head down the hallway as Kyra answers the door, blocking most of it with her body.
I don’t know my way around this house, but this hallway takes a left with another door into the other side of the parent’s bedroom and ends at a back door. We come out on the edge of the forest and loop around the back of the house. Perhaps I should’ve parked the ship on the side of the house. The visitor—whoever they are—is going to see us heading for the ship in the meadow. I suppose it doesn’t matter. They’ve already seen the ship, we’re just strangers.
Bat is already cutting a nearly invisible path through the tall grass toward our ship. I watch him crawl up the side and drop down the hatch in the top.
Behind us, as I’m peeking around the corner of the house, Lalia bursts out the back door, a stuffed backpack in each hand, and hisses, “That’s our cousin again. Klen. He’s not going to be leaving, ya just better run.”
“You say goodbye to your mother?”
“Yes, yes, go.”
More amused than anything by the whole idiotic situation, I sprint after the princesses for the ship, glancing back. Their cousin is standing at the front door, staring at us, looking blatantly confused, and I have to choke down another laugh. It’s not much of a threat. I put my hand on my gun, anyway, to backup the story they’re going to tell if any authority figure ever stops by. Behind the man, Kyra looks like she’s telling him off about something. I like her a little more.
Bat has already cycled open the airlock. I thank him and give Lalia and the princesses a boost. Bat seats himself on the edge of the airlock, big ear perked, head cocked.
“What’s he doing?”
Klen is heading our direction. Fantastic. Where is Zane?
There he is. Zane stomps off the porch, waves a hand at Klen as he overtakes him. I try to remember these people have likely grown up around this person if he’s their cousin and lives nearby, but I can’t decide if this is more annoying or amusing.
“Busybody,” Lalia mumbles, crouching at the airlock beside Bat.
“Who is this guy? A cousin?”
“Yeah. He’s harmless. Mostly. But then he’ll tell his mother, and she’ll tell all her friends, and in the next twenty-four hours the entire area of people we know will be asking about what’s going on.”
“Sounds like fun.”
Her nose wrinkles. “Imagine the looks everyone gave us for years after Amerov never gave you back.”
I can’t help but look at her. She puts her hand on my arm. “Maybe get in the ship.”
I glance at the approaching figure. Zane is trotting our way. He looks steady enough on his feet now. I’m glad he can jog without breaking a sweat again. I boost myself into the airlock and lean around the edge so I’m mostly hidden within the shadows of the ship. It’s still early morning, and the sun has risen only enough the world is long, green-blue shadows. My ship is dark save the lights of the dashboard. I can’t look like much more than a shadow of a figure.
“You alright, Lalia?” Klen asks even as Zane reaches our ship. He has an exaggerated version of the sibling’s accents. They’ve spent a lot of time off-planet. I don’t bother to lean out enough to get a look at him. Out the viewport, Masyn and Kyra are wandering across the grass. I guess they couldn’t distract him back at the house. I hum the ship to life, hoping Zane will hurry it up and get in the ship. We’re going to have to call Masyn and Kyra up after we leave and figure out a more detailed story of what we were doing here.
“Fine, fine,” Lalia says, gesturing at Zane.
“What’s going on here?” There’s amusement in the man’s voice. One big gossip opportunity for him, I suppose. “Heard you got hauled off to Clock.”
“Is that what people are saying?”
“Uh-huh,” he says, and I see his eyes as he leans into the airlock. I wanna drop kick his face away from my ship. Who even is he to get involved here?
“Move it,” Zane mutters, elbowing him out of the airlock so he can crawl in. I should’ve dropped the gangplank for him, but then this dumbass might’ve taken it as an invitation. I grab Zane under the arm so he doesn’t strain any of his bruised ribs.
The man’s eyes find mine. He stuff his hands in his pockets and takes an alarmed step away, as if he can get behind Lalia from where she crouches above him in the airlock. Under his breath, as if only she can hear him, he says, “Yikes, you really think picking a cyborg to be your brother is a good idea? Everyone knows he’s dead—”
Halfway into the airlock, Zane yanks his arm from mine and swings a hell of a punch I don’t expect. Lalia yelps and drops to the ground, trying to grab Zane’s arm as he tackled the unsuspecting idiot into the dirt.
Well, he really is feeling better.
“Hit him harder!” Anya says as Yvonne claps both hands over the girl’s mouth.
Blinking, I realize La isn’t nearly strong enough to drag him off, and scrabble down to assist. Masyn and Kyra are jogging our direction, but by the time they get here I’ve already grabbed Zane under his armpits like he’s a toddler and hauled him back. He gives a final kick but misses, saying something in another language I vaguely recognize and is likely rather vulgar.
Lalia helps me gather him back in the direction of into the ship.
“What the hell is going on,” Masyn snaps, grabbing Klen by the scruff of his neck when the man tries to get up. He’s probably nearly as old as we are, but Masyn handles him as if he’s a toddler.
“I have never liked you,” Zane points back. “I have been nice to you because I had to and you can piss right the hell off—”
“Alright, tough guy, let’s go.” There’s likely plenty of history going on here I have no concept of, and who knows what happened between the three when they were kids. I certainly don’t remember him.
“Maybe you should hit him,” Zane suggests, deadpan.
“Just go home,” Masyn says, dropping the gasping Klen as if he’s no more important than the dirt itself, shooing him toward the trees.
Kyra comes over and brushes the dirt out of Zane’s hair, “This is not very comforting, Zane.”
“Sorry, Mom.”
She hugs and kisses him again, does the same to Lalia, and lets me shove his ass up into the ship while Anya is still giggling against Yvonne’s hands in the back. Even Bat is snickering. What a mess.
“I’m locking him in the ship,” I mumble to Masyn, and jump a little when he pats me once on the back. There’s pain in both their expressions as they watch Lalia crawl back in next to Zane.
“I’ll watch them,” I say, jumping back in and cycling the airlock shut before there can be any more emotional outbursts. Zane is sitting on the floor of the ship, legs spread out, looking entirely too pleased with himself. I scoop him back up under his armpits so he doesn’t do anymore damage than he already might have done with that little stunt.
Bat shoots me a scandalized look. Choking down another laugh, I let go of a breathing-hard Zane and ease the ship into the air. That was a bit more dramatic than I was hoping for.
“Don’t look at me like that,” Zane says, holding his ribs. “You have no idea what that asshat was like. I’ve been waiting so long to do that.”
“And you wonder why your parents worry about you.”
“Oh no, I know why.”
Lalia snickers, then leans over the console, waving out the cracked airlock before the house and their watching parents disappear. Zane joins her, and I see the two figures far below wave their arms. My chest hurts, but it’s wiser that we’re leaving.
“You two alright?” I ask.
“Yeah,” Zane says, wiping blood from a newly split lip.
Lalia nods, and drags him toward the washroom. “Come on doofus, time to make sure you didn’t do any damage.”
Petting Bat’s ears, I glance at the princesses. Anya is still grinning, Yvonne looks she just saw the most interesting drama.
“I see where those two get it,” she tells me.
“Yeah…I was almost feeling bad for their parents until I realized they probably got it from somewhere.”
Anya climbs onto the console as I ease the ship back up through the atmosphere, feeling immediately safer once the dark of space wraps around us.
“You okay?” Yvonne whispers, wrapping her arms around my middle, leaning her head against my chest.
I lean back, just a little. “Okay.”
“Maybe you should go,” Masyn mumbles, looking particularly miserable.
“Zane, I’ll grab your pack,” Lalia says. “Back door?”
“Definitely,” Zane agrees.
Lalia bolts for the back rooms. Well, this is one way to hustle every one out.
Another knock on the door.
“Damn relatives,” Masyn says, which sounds so much like something I’d say I have to bite the insides of my cheeks so I don’t laugh.
“I’ll make him go away,” Kyra says, heading for the door.
Masyn grabs Zane in a tight hug when they get to their feet. Suddenly feeling as if I’m intruding, I nudge the princesses and I head for the back door, Bat scuttling along. When I glance back, Zane’s cheerful expression has fallen away as he holds onto his father. I’ve no idea when they might see them again, and I don’t think they do either. Lalia emerges from Zane’s room, dropping their bags and doing the same. Throat unexpectedly tight, I head down the hallway as Kyra answers the door, blocking most of it with her body.
I don’t know my way around this house, but this hallway takes a left with another door into the other side of the parent’s bedroom and ends at a back door. We come out on the edge of the forest and loop around the back of the house. Perhaps I should’ve parked the ship on the side of the house. The visitor—whoever they are—is going to see us heading for the ship in the meadow. I suppose it doesn’t matter. They’ve already seen the ship, we’re just strangers.
Bat is already cutting a nearly invisible path through the tall grass toward our ship. I watch him crawl up the side and drop down the hatch in the top.
Behind us, as I’m peeking around the corner of the house, Lalia bursts out the back door, a stuffed backpack in each hand, and hisses, “That’s our cousin again. Klen. He’s not going to be leaving, ya just better run.”
“You say goodbye to your mother?”
“Yes, yes, go.”
More amused than anything by the whole idiotic situation, I sprint after the princesses for the ship, glancing back. Their cousin is standing at the front door, staring at us, looking blatantly confused, and I have to choke down another laugh. It’s not much of a threat. I put my hand on my gun, anyway, to backup the story they’re going to tell if any authority figure ever stops by. Behind the man, Kyra looks like she’s telling him off about something. I like her a little more.
Bat has already cycled open the airlock. I thank him and give Lalia and the princesses a boost. Bat seats himself on the edge of the airlock, big ear perked, head cocked.
“What’s he doing?”
Klen is heading our direction. Fantastic. Where is Zane?
There he is. Zane stomps off the porch, waves a hand at Klen as he overtakes him. I try to remember these people have likely grown up around this person if he’s their cousin and lives nearby, but I can’t decide if this is more annoying or amusing.
“Busybody,” Lalia mumbles, crouching at the airlock beside Bat.
“Who is this guy? A cousin?”
“Yeah. He’s harmless. Mostly. But then he’ll tell his mother, and she’ll tell all her friends, and in the next twenty-four hours the entire area of people we know will be asking about what’s going on.”
“Sounds like fun.”
Her nose wrinkles. “Imagine the looks everyone gave us for years after Amerov never gave you back.”
I can’t help but look at her. She puts her hand on my arm. “Maybe get in the ship.”
I glance at the approaching figure. Zane is trotting our way. He looks steady enough on his feet now. I’m glad he can jog without breaking a sweat again. I boost myself into the airlock and lean around the edge so I’m mostly hidden within the shadows of the ship. It’s still early morning, and the sun has risen only enough the world is long, green-blue shadows. My ship is dark save the lights of the dashboard. I can’t look like much more than a shadow of a figure.
“You alright, Lalia?” Klen asks even as Zane reaches our ship. He has an exaggerated version of the sibling’s accents. They’ve spent a lot of time off-planet. I don’t bother to lean out enough to get a look at him. Out the viewport, Masyn and Kyra are wandering across the grass. I guess they couldn’t distract him back at the house. I hum the ship to life, hoping Zane will hurry it up and get in the ship. We’re going to have to call Masyn and Kyra up after we leave and figure out a more detailed story of what we were doing here.
“Fine, fine,” Lalia says, gesturing at Zane.
“What’s going on here?” There’s amusement in the man’s voice. One big gossip opportunity for him, I suppose. “Heard you got hauled off to Clock.”
“Is that what people are saying?”
“Uh-huh,” he says, and I see his eyes as he leans into the airlock. I wanna drop kick his face away from my ship. Who even is he to get involved here?
“Move it,” Zane mutters, elbowing him out of the airlock so he can crawl in. I should’ve dropped the gangplank for him, but then this dumbass might’ve taken it as an invitation. I grab Zane under the arm so he doesn’t strain any of his bruised ribs.
The man’s eyes find mine. He stuff his hands in his pockets and takes an alarmed step away, as if he can get behind Lalia from where she crouches above him in the airlock. Under his breath, as if only she can hear him, he says, “Yikes, you really think picking a cyborg to be your brother is a good idea? Everyone knows he’s dead—”
Halfway into the airlock, Zane yanks his arm from mine and swings a hell of a punch I don’t expect. Lalia yelps and drops to the ground, trying to grab Zane’s arm as he tackled the unsuspecting idiot into the dirt.
Well, he really is feeling better.
“Hit him harder!” Anya says as Yvonne claps both hands over the girl’s mouth.
Blinking, I realize La isn’t nearly strong enough to drag him off, and scrabble down to assist. Masyn and Kyra are jogging our direction, but by the time they get here I’ve already grabbed Zane under his armpits like he’s a toddler and hauled him back. He gives a final kick but misses, saying something in another language I vaguely recognize and is likely rather vulgar.
Lalia helps me gather him back in the direction of into the ship.
“What the hell is going on,” Masyn snaps, grabbing Klen by the scruff of his neck when the man tries to get up. He’s probably nearly as old as we are, but Masyn handles him as if he’s a toddler.
“I have never liked you,” Zane points back. “I have been nice to you because I had to and you can piss right the hell off—”
“Alright, tough guy, let’s go.” There’s likely plenty of history going on here I have no concept of, and who knows what happened between the three when they were kids. I certainly don’t remember him.
“Maybe you should hit him,” Zane suggests, deadpan.
“Just go home,” Masyn says, dropping the gasping Klen as if he’s no more important than the dirt itself, shooing him toward the trees.
Kyra comes over and brushes the dirt out of Zane’s hair, “This is not very comforting, Zane.”
“Sorry, Mom.”
She hugs and kisses him again, does the same to Lalia, and lets me shove his ass up into the ship while Anya is still giggling against Yvonne’s hands in the back. Even Bat is snickering. What a mess.
“I’m locking him in the ship,” I mumble to Masyn, and jump a little when he pats me once on the back. There’s pain in both their expressions as they watch Lalia crawl back in next to Zane.
“I’ll watch them,” I say, jumping back in and cycling the airlock shut before there can be any more emotional outbursts. Zane is sitting on the floor of the ship, legs spread out, looking entirely too pleased with himself. I scoop him back up under his armpits so he doesn’t do anymore damage than he already might have done with that little stunt.
Bat shoots me a scandalized look. Choking down another laugh, I let go of a breathing-hard Zane and ease the ship into the air. That was a bit more dramatic than I was hoping for.
“Don’t look at me like that,” Zane says, holding his ribs. “You have no idea what that asshat was like. I’ve been waiting so long to do that.”
“And you wonder why your parents worry about you.”
“Oh no, I know why.”
Lalia snickers, then leans over the console, waving out the cracked airlock before the house and their watching parents disappear. Zane joins her, and I see the two figures far below wave their arms. My chest hurts, but it’s wiser that we’re leaving.
“You two alright?” I ask.
“Yeah,” Zane says, wiping blood from a newly split lip.
Lalia nods, and drags him toward the washroom. “Come on doofus, time to make sure you didn’t do any damage.”
Petting Bat’s ears, I glance at the princesses. Anya is still grinning, Yvonne looks she just saw the most interesting drama.
“I see where those two get it,” she tells me.
“Yeah…I was almost feeling bad for their parents until I realized they probably got it from somewhere.”
Anya climbs onto the console as I ease the ship back up through the atmosphere, feeling immediately safer once the dark of space wraps around us.
“You okay?” Yvonne whispers, wrapping her arms around my middle, leaning her head against my chest.
I lean back, just a little. “Okay.”
