“You?” Jem snorted. “You do innocent badly.”
She laughed. “You keep me humble. I’m leaving all the data he just squirted over to me with you. You tell me what you find, when you have the time to go through it. Finish up with Altair first, though.”
“You’ll be back?” Jem looked at his boards. They were about to dock, under the competent handling of a pilot and tug he trusted.
“I’ll be back. I do find I need my ego deflated from time to time.”
Jem snorted. “What about your cat?”
“The girls will look after him, I think. That way they will know I’ll be back.”
Jem looked at her, cocking his head quizzically. She explained. “They went through a huge upheaval, and I’m part of their new reality. It will be important to assure them I’m not abandoning them.”
“Makes sense.” Jem admitted to himself that it made him feel better, too. “I’ll try to keep them from feeding him too much.”
The cat was not a small cat, but the girls seemed determined to develop him into a furry blimp.
“I appreciate that,” Jade told him drily. “Now, Captain Raznick, we are safely in berth, and I believe I need to go pack.”
Jem nodded and didn’t say anything else to her. He wasn’t going to let on how much he’d miss her. She hadn’t been on board for that long. He wasn’t exactly going to be lonely, not with Ed and the girls aboard, not to mention the slowly developing menagerie of pets. Which reminded him that his meeting with Peter was coming up rapidly now. One more stop.
Chapter 36: Johnsonville and the Closing of the Circle
It did feel lonely without her, Jem had decided after the weeks of passage from Altair to Johnsonville had crawled by. He and Ed could talk, but it wasn’t the same as the conversations with Jade. The girls were fun, but kids. Jem realized somewhat cynically that he’d unconsciously lumped Ed in with them, as a kid. It wasn’t fair to Ed, who was a nice guy, and probably had as many years to his name as Jem had. What he didn’t have, despite the rocky upbringing by an alcoholic parent, was the sheer brutality and then... Walter hadn’t been a nurturing parent. Jem was grateful for that. The gift he’d given to Jem had been a thirst for knowledge, all the data he could possibly feast on, and more. Love and affection had been as alien to him as they were to Jem.
Ed, on the other hand, had had a mother. Jem still didn’t know what her name had been, but he had learned that her death was recent, and had precipitated Ed’s resolution to get off Loki and take his sisters with him no matter how he had to do it. Ed’s near hero-worship of Jem ’ meant that he and Ed didn’t meet as equals. Jem still hadn’t decided if it stemmed from the pirate attack and aftermath, or simply for being their ‘savior, either way, he’d like to make it go away.
So he missed Jade. And he was dreading this meeting with Peter, nearly as much as he had the last time he’d come here, utterly alone to break the news of Walter’s death. Jem knew he had fulfilled the conditions in Walter’s will, or at least the ones he knew about. The sealed portion, that was the fly in his ointment. Peter could very well put Jem off the Tanager and bring on another captain. Jem went over the books again, looking at the profits and losses. It had not been an ideal season. Then again, the last three stops had been reasonably profitable to wildly successful, so there was that much he could present. Hiring crew... wasn’t a bad thing. Some of the crew being tiny girls with big eyes? Well, he was sure Peter would understand why he’d done that. Peter wasn’t as heartless as he liked to make out.
Jem looked up and the screens and rubbed his eyes. Was it really that late? He’d been pushing to get into the station as soon as possible, and now he realized that it was ship’s night, but station’s midday. He hadn’t thought this through. Getting some sleep and coming in at station’s morning would have been much more rational. Too late for that now, though. Docking was underway. Jem checked his tablet for all the files again. He sat there staring at the tablet for a long time. It was Walter’s. His had been wiped after Tianjin, and given to Ed once Jade was satisfied it was safe.
How did he explain Jade to Peter?
Jem looked at the time again. He wasn’t going to announce docking to the whole ship, it would wake the girls. He got up and went to find Ed.
“Hey.” Ed looked up when Jem said his name. “We’re in berth at Johnsonville.”
“Oh, that was smooth. I didn’t even feel it.” Ed got up from the table. “The girls are in bed. Do you need me?”
“Not just yet. The first cargo isn’t scheduled for offloading until ship’s morning, which is...” Jem checked his watch even though he’d looked at it not five minutes before. Mind like a sieve tonight. “About seven hours, now. I have something that has to be done now, though.”
“I’ll get some sleep then.”
“Good. I’ll sack out for a few when I get back.” Jem took a step toward the hatch, and then half-turned. “Ed?”
“Yeah?”
“You’ve done good.”
“Oh.” Ed sounded surprised. Jem didn’t stick around to try and explain that he might not be back, not as captain.
Eby was asleep on Jem’s bunk. The girls had tried tempting and bribing him into sleeping in their cabin, but the basset much preferred to cuddle with his master. Jem hadn’t tried too hard to dissuade the dog. The dog was snoring. Jem picked up his lead and jingled it. “Hey, boy, let’s go.”
Eby opened one eye. “C’mon.” Jem knew he’d go right back to sleep. “Serious.”
Eby yawned hugely and stretched, then gave Jem a sad look. “Yes, you do have to give up some of your beauty sleep. You may get another wrinkle. But you’re coming with me. Walk.”
That perked the dog up. He did love the few times he was allowed to explore off the ship. The lead was a necessary evil, but Jem had learned that without it, if Eby found a scent trail he liked, the basset suddenly lost all hearing until he was good and ready, or being hauled off it by the scruff of his neck.
With Eby strolling beside him, Jem left the ship, headed for Peter’s Pet Emporium. He knew he’d find the old man there, in the heat and stink. He could retire, but then he would be bored. So he worked. Jem thought he understood. He couldn’t imagine drifting without something to do, himself.
Jem stopped in front of the door, taking a deep breath and squaring his shoulders. Eby, excited by the smells emanating even through the hatch, whined and leaned on the leash, snuffling. Jem looked down at him and smiled.
The door slid open.
Epilogue:
Jem let Eby off the leash and listened to the rhythm of the dog’s paws as he ran into the ship. It seemed like an age since he’d stood here last. Peter’s office had turned into a trek to the attorney’s offices, complete with dog. Peter had been hugely amused by Eby, for some reason Jem hadn’t fathomed. The ensuing hours had passed in a flurry of papers punctuated with sandwiches and coffee at a conference table, and a flunky appointed to walk Eby.. somewhere. The upshot had been not only the captaincy, but to Jem’s complete shock, the owner’s half that Walter had left him. Jade and Peter were the other plank owners, and Jade’s share could charitably be called a sliver. Peter’s surprise over learning she’d been crew… Jem shook his head, grinning until his cheeks ached, now that he was alone. Silence fell around him like a warm blanket. Everyone aboard was sound asleep. Jem stretched his arms wide. “I’m home.” he whispered. “I’m home again.”
Contents
Chapter 1: Just a Pup
Chapter 2: Altressa
Chapter 3: Norms and Procedures
Chapter 4: First Contact
Chapter 5: Tassie Station
Chapter 6: Gardeners
Chapter 7: Trader’s Delight
Chapter 8: The Next Stop
Chapter 9: In a Miner Key
Chapter 10: Difficult Decisions
Chapter 11: Flinders Lode
Chapter 12: Making Haste Slowly
Chapter 13: Returning Toward Normal
> Chapter 14: Always on the Road
Chapter 15: The Dark Station
Chapter 16: Trials and Suspicion
Chapter 17: All the Formalities
Chapter 18: Tianjin Station
Chapter 19: The Iron Law
Chapter 20: Down the Drain
Chapter 21: An Unlikely Rescuer
Chapter 22: The Black Tick
Chapter 23: Jade Star
Chapter 24: Bug-Be-Gone
Chapter 25: Trust
Chapter 26: Plans for All Angles
Chapter 27: Into the Briar Patch
Chapter 28: Aftermath
Chapter 29: Loki
Chapter 30: Hired Help
Chapter 31: Chaos and Cargo
Chapter 32: Jade and Baker
Chapter 33: Time to Go
Chapter 34: Lalibele
Chapter 35: Altair
Chapter 36: Johnsonville and the Closing of the Circle
Epilogue:
AUTHOR BIO
Cedar Sanderson was born a military brat in Nebraska and spent her childhood enroute to new duty stations. Her formative years after her father left the Air Force were spent being home-schooled on the Alaskan frontier. She removed to the "more urban" climes of New Hampshire at the beginning of high school. She has had the usual eclectic range of jobs for Fantasy/ SF authors, ranging from balloon twister and body artist to apprentice shepherdess. She counts the latter as more useful in keeping track of her four children and First Reader. Her fascination with science dates to her early childhood, spent with her grandmother on the Oregon coast studying the flora and fauna and learning to prepare a meal from what she could glean from a tidal pool and the Pacific Rainforest. This led to a lifelong interest in science, cooking, and becoming a tough old lady.
Having finished college in Ohio to secure a BS in Forensic Science and Investigation, she is now kickstarting a new career while running a household, an art and design business, and writing multiple novels on the side with occasional forays into coloring books and children’s stories. This has the result of leaving those watching her indefatigable efforts panting in exhaustion.
OTHER TITLES BY CEDAR SANDERSON
Pixie For Hire Series:
Pixie Noir
Trickster Noir
Dragon Noir
Pixie for Hire Omnibus (all three titles)
The Tanager Series:
Jade Star (a novella)
Tanager’s Fledglings
Tanager in Flight (forthcoming)
Children of Myth Duology:
Vulcan’s Kittens
The God’s Wolfling
Short Fiction:
The Twisted Breath of God
Little Red-Hood and the Wolf-man
One-Eyed Dragon
The Eternity Symbiote
Memories of the Abyss
Snow Angel
Sugar Skull
Stargazer
The Dwarf’s Dryad
Plant Life
Fairy Little Sister
Mindflow (published by Something Wicked)
Milkweed (published by Mythic Delirium)
Jade Star
Two hundred years before the events that unfolded in this tale, a far grimmer beginning was told…
There is no such thing as eternal youth. My body may look pretty damn good for pushing 200 old-Earth years, but I haven’t been a young woman in over a century and a half. And I didn’t ask for this. Had I been conscious, and aware of what they were doing, I’d have fought like a madwoman… but by the time I woke up, it was done. Somehow it seemed ungrateful, with them all happy they had rescued me and saved me, to end my life again.
I should explain, I expect. My name is Jade, and I was a rockhound. Left that profession behind after the incident I refer to, seems rude to rub it in my family’s face that after they pushed me off on the ice floe (had to look all that up, first time I heard the expression. I’d like to see an ice floe, some day. The thought of that much water, to float a chunk o’ ice big enough to hold a human…) I made it and am still going strong. Then again, they might not recognize me, was I to come back with this face and body. They likely don’t remember the good days, when I first held a little ‘un in swabbies and showed him the stars, his home.
Anyway, I was old. Real old, past being able to help, and my mind was slipping. Might still be slipping, dunno. Wasn’t their idea to space me, that was me. I didn’t want to drag out my dying, and I was a mite anxious to rejoin my man, it having been those many years of alone-but-not-alone. So I headed out in a little rock scooter, into the thick of the asteroids, so they couldn’t find me. We couldn’t afford me, the Family. Not with me doing nothing to help even with the babbies any longer. And I kept breaking bones. So going dirtside wasn’t an option. I wanted to have my end out there, in the black, with the stars like jewels all around. I saw the looks Ferric’s wife kept giving me, and I took a hint.
Problem was, the scooter I took had a malfunction, which I knew, the reason I picked that one. Figured it’d get me out far enough, then give out, and I’d have a little time to admire the sparklies of the lights so far away, before my time was up. But instead that lil motor kicked into high gear with an annoying whine, and punched me so far out – I don’t know where I wound up, rightly. I’d passed out by then, more gravity than my old heart could take.
I woke up on an alien ship, and nothing hurt. Thought I was dead, a minute. Then I swung my legs off that weird bed and stood up, and I knew it was real. An I could see myself, reflected in a blue chrome wall. I looked like a girl again. Probably a good thing I was alone, for that bit of time. I wasn’t real happy.
As I said, though, hard to be angry with them when it was clear they were pleased as anything over their work. Took me a while to figure out they’d never met an old human. They just restored me to what they thought I should be, thinking old age was a result of my scooter accident. Like little children with a building set, they are.
I wish I had a better name to give them, the little people with the big eyes and plush fur. They don’t look like animals to me, but mebbe… mebbe a little like something I remember from a picture book. A lemur. Only they don’t have tails like that. They’re affectionate as anything, and…
But I’m getting ahead of myself. I’m forgetting a lot. Might be this old brain, I’ve no way of knowing what they did to it, if anything. Damned if I’ll let anyone open it up and take a look. Not yet, by a ways.
After I’d taken my mad out on the wall, I’d laid down on the bed and taken a nap. I was tired, and my hands were bloody. When I woke up, one of them was curled up with me. Half asleep, I thought he was one of the cats. Cats suited well to space. Dogs, not so much. So we’d always had cats with us in the rocks. They kept the vermin to a dull roar – vermin will follow humans ever – and they were company, when a rockjock was out for a month at a go, picking up ore.
I’m afraid I cried into his fur until he was soggy and no doubt sorry he’d volunteered to stay with me. But it was the best thing they could have done. He patted my face and talked to me, not that I realized the sounds were words, then. But it was soothing, and it tided me over until I was in my right mind again. That wasn’t a quick process, but I don’t see a need to spill all the details, iff’n you don’t mind. Even if you do.
Once I was ready to go on living, I started in on learning how to talk to them. Wasn’t hard. They’d been in contact with humans before. Not many – they’re shy, my friends are – but enough to have a bit of a phrase dictionary. I helped them with that. ‘Twas easier for them to learn my lingo than me to make theirs. I can’t sing. I got to the point where we could have a conversation, and then I asked them to drop me off somewhere.
I could have stayed with them. They let me know that from the beginning. And nights spent with a mass of them all snuggled in a pile ‘round me, it was tempting. They loved me. But I was a pet, to them. Not as dumb as that cat I’d first mistaken Blackears for, but not much brighter. I could
no sooner understand what made their ship go than that old cat, for sure.
I wasn’t willing to be a pet. Cosseted and coddled and petted… Me, who’d been a rockjock with my man and nothing ‘tween us and the stars but a bit of spun ceramsteel.
‘Course, bein’ a pet mighta been better than what awaited me at Termine…
Read the rest in Jade Star, a novella prequel to the Tanager Series.
Tanager's Fledglings (The Tanager Book 1) Page 32
