The Last Builder

by C G Cooper

  As the city grew closer, so did the vehicles behind them. There was a pop and the car jerked, throwing her against the window. A sharp pain shot up her already injured arm, and she hissed angrily.

  “What was that?”

  “Shooting at us,” he said, laser-focused on the route directly ahead. “Luckily this thing is practically a tank. It’s going to take more than that to render us dead in the water.”

  A series of pops went off. The car shuddered and spun, throwing Katherine against her father this time, and then forward against the dashboard.

  “Like that,” he said, unbuckling his seatbelt and doing the same for her. “Come on, it's time to go.”

  “Go where?” she said dizzily, opening the door and stumbling to the ground. Her head was spinning.

  “Friend of mine.”

  Behind them, the roar of several engines served as a reminder that they couldn't afford the luxury of conversation at the moment. He grabbed her hand and dragged her down an alleyway that smelled of mildew and urine. The shadows grew longer, and she couldn’t help feeling as though they were being watched.

  When they got to the other side of the alley, it opened up to a main road. She looked at the myriad of people around her. Some of them looked like they came from Earth, others were exotic in appearance. The style of clothing was the easiest way to distinguish one group of people from the other, but there were other differences. Some sported tattoos on their faces, while others had clean shaven heads. One group wore metal sheathes on their right arms bigger than she had ever seen before. Did they really need that much protection for their Omnis?

  Her father took her shoulder and leaned down to look her right in the eyes. Any annoyance she had for him was swallowed up by the serious look on his face.

  “It is vital that you stay by my side every step of the way. Don’t let a single person walk between us. Hold onto my arm the entire time. Don’t let go. Keep a grip on your case, but if someone takes it from you, let them. It’s not worth it.”

  “I grew up in the city, Dad, I know how to handle myself.” She realized there wasn’t much conviction in her voice. His admonition had unnerved her.

  “This is different. A lot of these people are traders, but the moon is a pit stop for just about everyone in the galaxy. You never know who’s going to be causing trouble, and we’ve already got enough trouble following us, okay?”

  She nodded, swallowing past the lump in her throat. She then remembered that if she'd learned anything about survival while growing up in New York, it was not to let anyone see that you were afraid. That only invited people to take advantage of you.

  “Ready?” he said.

  Katherine squared her shoulders and took her father’s arm, readjusting her grip on her case. She trusted him to get them through this, but could not help but wonder what the cost would be.

  Before she could ponder that idea too much, her father led her out into the street, where the crowd swarmed and jostled them. Once they reached the other side, they flowed into the steady stream of people. Katherine tried not to stare, tried not to look like she’d never been here before, but she couldn’t help but take in the wide variety of colors and culture. She loved New York for its diversity, but it didn’t hold a candle to what was around her now.

  The streets were noisy with vendors yelling prices and heckling one another, only to be answered by their potential customers laughing or slinging insults. A mixture of different languages floated around her on the air, and soon even English sounded foreign. Strange inflections and new words made her ears perk up. It was indeed a new world up here, and to think this was only the beginning.

  “What?” he asked.

  “What?” she answered, looking up at him.

  “You were smiling.”

  “No I wasn’t.” She straightened her face and went back to staring at the ground in front of her.

  “Okay,” he said patronizingly.

  “Where are we heading?” she said, wanting desperately to change the subject. The last thing she needed was an I told you so from her father.

  “Private hangar. That’s where our ride out of here will be.”

  “And who is this friend of yours?”

  “Name’s Garrett. He’s taking care of my ship. When I have to leave it behind, I hire him to watch after it. He knows a lot of people, has a lot of connections. If someone’s going to cause trouble, they usually don’t do it around him.”

  “Why not?”

  “Respect. He’s a retired military commander that couldn’t quite give up the life. He got injured about ten years ago, came home and started drinking and picking fights with anyone who would give him the time of day.”

  “And people respect him for that?”

  Her father smiled. “He cleaned himself up. One day, he apparently just woke up and decided he'd had enough misery in life, and that was that. Hasn’t touched the bottle since. Only got into a fight once, when he needed to defend himself. He had a lot going against him. Lost his leg. Lost his wife and daughter in an accident. His military career was over and he wasn’t fit for life behind a desk, so he lost his job too. Never really found anyone or anything else to fill those voids except for violence and alcohol.”

  “What made him change?”

  “He says I did.”

  “Come again?”

  “Terraforming. I told him about what I do. He said where there’s life, there’s hope. And vice versa. He said every new world represents another chance to get it right. There has to be something in that. Don’t get me wrong. Garrett’s still a bit broken these days. The drinking really got to him. But he’s a good man and still sharp. He sees and hears a lot more than you can imagine. Sometimes knowledge is more powerful than money.”

  She looked around her, wondering about the stories of all these strange people.

  “So,” he said, straightening his back to stretch it, “once we make sure the ship is fine, we’ll be off-planet. Then, one hopes, we’ll be safe.”

  “One hopes?” She couldn’t help the break in her voice. “Are they going to keep chasing us forever?”

  “No,” Cutler said slowly, “but Greenwood is… persistent.”

  “What did you do to him, Dad?”

  “I married your mother,” he said plainly.

  A smirk flitted across his face.

  “Did Mom like him?”

  “Not even a little bit.” The smirk reappeared and stayed in place. “But some people can’t take a hint.”

  She laughed at this, and her father glanced over at her but said nothing. She was going to pursue the issue but decided to let it go for the time being. All she really wanted now was a soft bed and a hot shower.

  They snaked down from one alley to the next. They did this for some time, until she realized they had nearly crossed the length of the city. When the buildings became sparser, he angled them toward an unmarked gray building.

  Seemingly out of nowhere, a man with a grizzled beard, dark eyes, and a beaten face appeared in front of them. He smelled of beer and body odor, but his eyes were bright as they settled on his visitors.

  “Christ, what happened, Garrett?”

  “Jumped,” said the man, who Katherine could see now was missing a tooth, even though he barely moved his lips when he spoke.

  “By who?” Cutler asked.

  “Boyle’s men shook me down.” He appeared to be angry at himself. “Bunch of guys. Took two of them out in the process before they knocked me out, though.”

  “Are you okay?” said Katherine. His face looked like it had gone through a meat grinder.

  Garrett worked his jaw for a moment, then gave a curt nod before looking back to her father.

  “What’d they do to my ship?” her father said.

  “See for yourself.”

  Her father took a step forward and placed his Omnis on a scanner to the left of the door. For a moment, the scanner glowed green, then the latch clicked.

  She'd seen plenty of sp
aceships in her day, but they were usually the standard commercial crafts used to haul cargo or transport people to and from the moon. She’d even seen private planes up close on field trips, but none of them compared to this one.

  She knew just enough about ships to know it was an older model, and that it was incredibly well cared for. It was black and red, and the tip pointed toward her like the barrel of a gun. Beyond, it stretched out to the sides, with powerful looking jet engines on the right and left. Even from this angle, down on the ground, she knew it was small compared to a lot of personal ships. But it looked sturdy—and fast.

  They'd dropped their bags in the corner when her father turned toward her with a mixture of curiosity and apprehension.

  “What?” she said.

  “What do you think?”

  Katherine opened her mouth to make a snappy retort, but the eagerness for approval on her father’s face made her pause. “I like it, actually.” It was true. Something about it felt safe and familiar.

  “I named her The Artemesia.”

  “Pretty.”

  “It’s dead,” Garrett said.

  “What do you mean it’s dead?” Cutler strode over to him, looking up at the underbelly of his ship. Katherine followed close behind and soon noticed what Garrett was referring to. It seemed one of the panels had been pried open. Wires hung down from the aperture, and something was clearly missing from inside.

  “One of the main circuit panels is ripped out,” said Garrett. “You won’t get far without it.”

  “How could anyone break in?” said Katherine. “You had to use your Omnis to get through the door.”

  “Greenwood,” her father muttered. He closed his eyes and tipped his head back. He was as frustrated as she'd ever seen him. “He must’ve called ahead, spoken to someone who put him in touch with Boyle.”

  “They know each other?” She still didn’t understand who Boyle was, but she was beginning to like him just about as much as she liked Greenwood.

  “Doubt it,” her father said, opening his eyes and rolling his shoulders. “But if Greenwood put out feelers, Boyle would’ve jumped at the chance to mess with my ship.”

  “I don’t understand. Why does he hate you so much?”

  “Long story.”

  Katherine looked up at the dangling wires. “Can’t you just buy a new circuit board?”

  He shook his head. “Parts for my ship are rare. It's too old. I'd either have to fly to Arcana Major to buy a new one or visit a contact back on Earth to get it repaired. Either way would take weeks, maybe months. Then there’s a third option.”

  “Which is?”

  “We just have to hope Boyle didn’t sell it to anyone else yet.” He took a deep, frustrated breath. “Jesus, I was only gone for a day.”

  “I’m sorry, Cope,” Garrett muttered. “I tried.”

  “You don’t need to apologize. It’s pretty obvious you did,” her father said, squeezing the other man’s shoulder. He took out his Omnis.

  Garrett waved him off. “I didn’t do my job. I didn’t stop them from messing with your ship.”

  “You couldn’t have stopped Boyle’s gang, Garrett. It’s not your fault.”

  Garrett still looked uncomfortable. Her father nodded reassuringly to him and tucked the Omnis back in his pocket. “How 'bout I give you what I owe you when I get the parts back.”

  Garrett nodded, took one more look at the ship, a sad expression on his face, and shuffled out of the building.

  “Now what?” Katherine said.

  “Now, we go see another old friend.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Can’t wait.”

  9

  Katherine

  “A bar?” she said, raising her eyebrows.

  “Just for a little while. Till I can get a location on Boyle.”

  “You’re leaving me at a strange bar on the moon. Somehow I’m not surprised.”

  He led her down a tight, dark hallway that opened up into a large room redolent with the acrid stench of sweat and stale beer.

  “Cutler Copeland?” a voice called out from the other end of the bar.

  “Hey, Jessie,” Cutler said, wrapping one hand around the back of his neck and trying to smile at the tiny redhead behind the bar. “How ya been?”

  “You’ve got a lot of nerve, Cope,” Jessie said.

  He sidled up to the bar and sat down like he’d done it a million times before. Katherine stood behind him awkwardly, trying to ignore the gazes that fell on her.

  “I know I've got a lot of nerve, but I need a favor.”

  Jessie stood on her tiptoes, leaned across the bar, and punched Cutler in the shoulder. Katherine was amused. Her dad was tough—she couldn’t deny that anymore—but she also had a feeling this woman could wipe the floor with him.

  Rubbing his arm with one hand, he held up the other in surrender. “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t important.”

  “And what’s so important that you finally got the nerve to show your face over here again, huh?”

  He looked over his shoulder and patted the seat beside him. When Katherine stepped forward, Jessie dropped her arms and a slow smile crossed her face. “Katherine,” she said reverently.

  “Hi,” Katherine said, looking between the woman and her father.

  “Your father has told me a lot about you.” She cut a quick glance to Cutler before returning to Katherine. “But you have no idea who I am, do you?”

  “I don’t. I’m sorry.”

  “You’re not the one who needs to apologize. But even though he never does, I somehow always seem to forgive him.”

  “About that,” said her father.

  Jessie frowned. “Something happened, didn’t it?”

  “Victoria.”

  Jessie laid a hand on top of his. “Oh God, Cope. I’m so sorry.”

  He slipped his hand out from under hers to run it through his hair nervously. No doubt there was a strained chemistry between the two of them. Jessie was the type who wore her heart on her sleeve. But her father was a locked box of emotions.

  “We had to leave sooner than I expected,” he said. “But we still weren't back in time to prevent Boyle from jumping Garrett and getting to my ship.”

  Jessie crossed her arms over her chest and cocked an eyebrow. “And I guess you need me to do something?”

  “He’s your brother, Jess. Talk to him?”

  “Wait,” said Katherine, “the guy who robbed my Dad is your brother?”

  Jessie blinked away the comment. “You know that’s not going to do any good. He doesn’t listen to me anymore.”

  “It’s either that, or he and I are going to trade blows again.”

  “Last time that happened, he ended up with a dislocated shoulder and a broken nose.”

  “Which is why I’m hoping he’ll listen to you when you tell him to give me my circuit board back. I’m not looking for a fight.”

  “Cope, you never look for a fight, but somehow it always seems to find you anyway.” She shook her head acquiescently. “Fine, I’ll give him a call. But don’t expect him to make it easy on you, Cope. He knew whose ship that was when he hit up Garrett.”

  “I know.” He bit his lip. “One last favor? Watch Katherine for me while I go do this?”

  “What?” Katherine said. “No! You told me I had to stay by your side. Now you’re dumping me?”

  “It’s safer for you here than anywhere else while I’m gone. Jess will take care of you.”

  “He’s right,” Jessie said with an apologetic smile. “I know it’s not the best place for a teenage girl, but we’ve got some games, and drinks are on me until your dad gets back.”

  “Non-alcoholic drinks,” her father interjected.

  “Obviously,” Jessie said with a surreptitious wink.

  Her father took his Omnis out and placed it face down on the black strip that ran the length of the counter. Jessie started to protest, but Cutler shook his head, saying, “By way of apology.”

 
; This was what kind of father he was: the kind who traded you off without a wink and backed it up with cash.

  Jessie filled Katherine’s glass with soda, garnishing it with a couple of cherries. “I’ll go call Georgie now,” she said, wiping her hands on a rag.

  Katherine sipped her drink. It was sweeter and stronger than the soda on Earth.

  “Like it?”

  “Not bad,” she said, taking a bigger sip. “What is it?”

  “Less polluted,” he said with a laugh. “You’re going to be shocked by how good everything tastes out here. Especially Jess’s food. She’s a great cook.”

  “Oh, I’m sure. Should I call her ‘Mom’ now?”

  “Stop that. She’s just a friend.”

  “That didn’t stop you from pawning me off like I’m some pet.”

  “I don’t want you where I’m going. It’s not safe. Anyway, you gonna be okay while I’m gone?”

  “Do I have a choice?”

  “Neither one of us do.”

  “What if that guy comes while you’re gone?”

  “What guy?”

  “What guy? Oh, I don’t know. How many people do you have after you? How do you know we weren’t followed here?”

  “You saw what he looks like. Keep your eyes peeled.”

  “That wasn’t an answer to my question.”

  He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. “If you spot him, tell Jessie you need to hide. She’ll keep you safe. Okay?”

  Katherine swirled her straw around in her drink a few times. “I don’t like this, Dad.”

  “I don’t like it either,” he said gently. “But once I get my ship back, we’ll be safe. I promise.”

  She wanted to believe him, but the way things had been going lately, she wasn’t sure if anywhere was safe for them now.

  Jessie returned, her cheeks flushed. “I hate talking to that man. I swear it.”

  “I know you do.”

  Jessie huffed and absentmindedly topped off Katherine’s drink, adding a couple more cherries.