by S. M. Welles
Jesse raised her chin and forced herself to walk bravely. Mido was just one amazing fish in the sea. There would be others. She just had to get over him and the way she’d left him. She mentally sent another apology his way and hoped he’d forgive her.
She found and boarded the rear of the bullet train with a handful of minutes to spare. The sharply dressed stewardess tore off the stub and handed back her boarding pass. Jessie made a beeline for the front. If Mido somehow found her train, she wanted to be in the last place he could possibly look. No one paid her any mind as she squeezed past one passenger after another. The train was sleek and compact, and full of soft colors on the inside. The outside was a shiny metal. All this would bring her one giant step closer to home.
Why wouldn’t this train ride stop feeling like the worst decision of her life?
* * *
Sauna, Scully, Mido, and I made it all away to the train station’s ticket platform, and we were breathing hard by that point. The platform was this huge, vaulted place teeming with people, overhead announcements, and muffled train horns. We stood in the middle of it all and craned our necks at all the boards listing arrivals and departures.
“Is Cyprus closer to Libya or Egypt?” Scully asked.
“Egypt,” Mido and I said in unison.
“Does she have the money to make it all the way to New Cairo?” Scully asked.
“Yes,” Mido said, starting off.
I grabbed a chunk of tank top. “Whoa there, Mido. Think with your brain and not with your heart in situations like these.”
Mido reeled himself back to my side. “I am using my brain.”
“So which platform are you headed to?”
Mido opened his mouth to say something, then closed it and bowed his head. He pointed. “That way, Captain.”
“See? One of the perks of living too long: I know very well how to not rush into action.”
“So which one?” Mido asked.
“Gate twenty. It takes off in five minutes. Start running.” None of us had quite caught our breath but we sucked up our next round of running, moving at almost a sprint. People looked at us but, thankfully, it would be easy for anyone to assume we were struggling to be punctual. No one yelled at us and many moved out of the way in plenty of time.
We reached terminal twenty in record time and Mido—his behavior stopped me in my tracks. No pun intended. He just plowed past the stewardess and boarded the train. Sauna and Sauna pulled up besides me, then Scully moved for the train. I grabbed a sleeve. “Don’t be stupid, too. He’s gonna get himself arrested, unless we make a clean and getaway.”
“And how are we going to do that now?”
I searched the station. Most people were going about their business but a stewardess from Jessie’s train was shouting at Mido.
An overhead female voice said, “Code Zulu, terminal twenty.” The voice went on to speak the same thing in two other languages.
A second stewardess near the rear of the train hung up a receiver and at the same time the voice stopped. Oh, goodie. And on top of that two uniformed authorities started walking this way from several terminals down. Their black uniforms stuck out among the colorful masses. “Start walking. Casually.” I stuck my hands in my coat and wandered towards the train’s nose. Sauna and Scully walked on either side of me. Scully nailed the whole casual thing but Sauna couldn’t take his eyes off the train.
“You three, stop!” the stewardess said.
Only a guilty conscience would react to a voice behind their back. I kept moving. My boys didn’t. I took a deep breath to keep my cool as I stopped as well. I more snarled than whispered, “Why are you two stopping?”
“Lo siento, Captain,” Sauna said.
The stewardess confronted us with a hand over the stun gun at her hip. Oh, that would be fun to get zapped by a lady in a skirt and heels. “Just stay right there. I saw you arrive with your idiot friend who illegally boarded the train.”
Scully said, “Our idiot friend is trying to save another friend from making a terrible mistake.”
“You expect me to believe anything that comes out of your mouths?”
“But it’s true!”
I put my hand on his shoulder. “Don’t waste your breath.”
“That’s more like it,” the stewardess said. “Now, the four of you will be escorted to the security hold for questioning.”
Scully said, “Hey! We didn’t do anything wrong.”
“You are his accomplices,” she said, pointing at the train. “You did nothing to stop him from breaking the law. That makes you equally responsible.”
Scully tried to protest but I snapped at him to stop digging himself a hole. The stewardess was legally correct. On top of that, the two security guards were only two trains away and approaching at a fast walk. I looked around the station for a solution to our predicament. We needed—I looked past Jessie’s train and broke into a grin—a bigger problem than a minor law infringement. I tapped Sauna’s arm. “Sauna, I got it. Look beyond the top of the train.” I pointed to the rusty thing.
He looked at the water tower, then scrunched his brows. “What do you have in mind, Captain?”
I headed for the nose of the train and the end of the platform, bringing myself closer to head-on with the water tower. “Scully, keep them off me. Sauna, go help Mido open some windows.” I set my burger bag on the ground and took off my coat and set it beside my coveted lunch.
Sauna shoved the stewardess on his way to the train door. She yelled, “Hey!” and ran after him.
Scully took a defensive stance in front of me. The security guards were one train away and had started running the moment Sauna shoved the lady. “Hope this works, Captain. If they have stun guns, we’re in trouble.”
“I need maybe a minute. Don’t give them any reason to use one and we’ll be fine.” I reach for the tower and focused on the water inside. As much as I hated using my demon powers, I couldn’t think of a better solution to our predicament. I clenched my teeth.
Alarmed and angry voices sounded from inside the train. Sauna pushed his way off as I began creating a whirlpool in the tower’s drum.
“Captain, the windows don’t open!”
My concentration on the water faltered as I held my arms up like a musical conductor gesturing to a section to play louder. “That would make too much sense.” I resumed strengthening the whirlpool with horizontal arm circles. “Keep the doors open.”
* * *
“Jessie!”
Jessie gasped. She thought she recognized the voice but she had to be imagining it. There had to be another Jessie on the train. Her heartache had to be tricking her into thinking she was hearing Mido’s voice. She tucked her feet onto her cushiony chair and wrapped her arms around her legs, leaning against the cabin wall.
“Jessie!”
She froze. That had to be Mido’s voice. But… why…? Why would he come for her? She leaned over the empty aisle seat and peered down the walkway. Mido was steadily working his way towards the front of the train, grabbing headrests as he checked each occupied seat. He looked up, then stopped when their eyes met.
Jessie’s heart started pounding. She cowered back in her chair, scrunching herself up in as small a ball as she could.
“Jessie!”
Second later, Mido stood before her, panting and sweaty. He reached for her but stopped when she cringed. He paused, then dropped to one knee and propped his elbows on the empty seat, looking up at her with blue eyes full of relief. He wore a smile beneath his concerned, yet relieved gaze.
“Please come back, Jessie.” He held out his hands, palms up, fingertips inches from her boots, his handsome eyes filled with pleading.
He’d really come back for her… just for her. Despite all the danger her company posed, and what bodily harm she’d inflicted on him, he’d willingly given chase, and now here he was, kneeling before her, breathing hard and with an open invitation to fly into his arms. Jessie wanted to cry.
&n
bsp; She eased some tension from her limbs and delicately placed a hand in his. He wrapped it in both his hands and began massaging it. He said, “Please?”
Her vision blurred with tears. He cared about her. He really, truly, genuinely cared about her. He didn’t care about what she’d been through and how her body had been used; just cared about her and her wellbeing. She unwrapped her other arm and reached for him. He rose into the empty seat and pulled her into safety of his arms. She returned the hug as tight as she could and began crying. “I’m sorry.”
“Shh. You don’t have to say anything. Just please come back.”
Oh, god, she would. Yes she would. She tried to say as much but she was crying too hard. She never wanted to leave his positive energy bubble ever again. Mido kissed the top of her head and rocked her gently, whispering words of comfort.
* * *
I focused on the tower as Sauna faced the security guards head-on and Scully ran over to help. I hoped I could break the tower before too many guards arrived. Rusty as the thing was, it was still sturdy. I closed my eyes and felt where the water flowed, my mind riding along the pipe that dived into the ground and led to filtration tanks and a huge network of pipes. Everything was watertight, like it was supposed to, except for the welding where the drum and vertical pipe met. I opened my eyes to confirm what my mind saw. Rusty streaks lined the pipe. I close my eyes and felt out the weakest spots with the water’s touch.
I began spinning the water in the pipe and frequently tugging it to me like an oarsmen rowing with one oar. Sauna and Scully were in a heated argument with the authorities. I tuned them out. This was a lot of water I was trying to move, an amount my demon form was far better equipped to handle. I was already sweating. Moving metric tons of water, to put it simply, was hard as hell. As much as I wanted the boosted strength of my demon form, there was no way I’d make today the first time I ever transformed on purpose.
The water was slowly eating away at the rusted welding. Every jerk made the pipe vibrate and more metal chips break off. Water began leaking down the side, slowly at first, and then like a faucet once half the welding had broken off. And then the pipe let out a teeth clenching screech as the metal snapped and bent towards me. The arguing lulled. I called the water to me and it roped out and arced for the ground like a dolphin dive. I pulled as much as I could control towards train’s entrance and people began voicing their alarm. The train filled with screams as I filled it with water. I did my best not to pour too much in there. I didn’t want anyone to drown, child or adult; just needed my avatar back.
I filled the train level to the seat cushions and let more stream onto the platform and collect at my feet. Tons of water poured out of the tower but there was no way I could hold every last drop in place. At least now Revivre had plenty initiative to replace their water tower. I collected enough water to fill a swimming pool and let it whirl around me no higher than my waist as I watch the stupefied looks on the security guards faces. They gaped in horror.
Passengers sloshed off the train, and Sauna and Scully waited by the door. The guards regained enough composure to tell people to head back to the ticket station as they helped people off. They tried to apprehend Mido, who was holding Jessie’s hand, but I knock them over with water. By then my skin began to tingle and my body ached from the mental strain. The smell of drinking water flooded my nose.
My four crew members—well three and a tentative bodyguard—approached me and my swirling water. Jessie gasped and took a step back, and my three men gaped. Scully pointed at me.
“Captain, look!”
I looked down at myself and lost concentration on the water. My skin had turned an ocean blue. The water rolled away in all directions, soaking my crew’s boots. The other portion of water poured off the train. I wrapped my arms around my stomach and fought back the transformation. No wonder my skin felt all tingly. I held my breath and concentrated on what I look like as a human and willed myself to revert to that. The tingling reached a fever pitch, then that and the full body ache left me. I looked at my arms, which were back to their hairy human pastiness. I sank to my knees with relief and began gasping for breath. Sauna and Scully ran to me. I barely held up a finger. “Gimme a minute. That was too close.” I let my arms hang limp at my sides.
Mido’s arm around Jessie’s waist, he guided her to stand before me. She resisted every step and looked ready to cry.
I, quite honestly, had little energy to argue. “Don’t do that again.” I took a deep breath, gathered my food and coat, then groaned as I stood. I looked at all of them, then back at Jessie. “See you in two days.” I walked past them. Sauna and Scully joined my departure.
Jessie said, “Why did you come for me?”
I turned and gave her a flat glare. “Don’t ask stupid questions.” That said, I headed back to Milud’s to finish my lunch and beer. After that, I’d need a brothel. The guards looked at me like they wanted to handcuff me. I gave them a hard glare, until they glanced at the sodden train, then eased their hands away from their stun guns.
Chapter 17
Pampering
Jessie watched Dyne, Scully and Sauna leave, then she looked at the sodden train. It was completely empty and water still dribbled off the bottom step. One security guard stayed with a distraught stewardess, and the other escorted the throng of soaked passengers to the ticketing station. Jessie and Mido were soaked to the waist and stayed put.
Seeing all that water rush up to the nose of the train had been terrifying, but hadn’t taken long to figure out what was happening. At first, she thought Dyne was drowning her for leaving, but when the water stopped rising and everyone gathered enough wit to start disembarking, she had a feeling he was just flushing her out and foiling her escape. As to why he did that, she still didn’t get it. Stupid question? Not from her perspective.
Mido looked her over with those blue eyes she was so glad to see again. Sad to see them, too. But her happiness and relief far outweighed her sadness. She felt so much better being reunited with him.
She looked at his feet. “I’m sorry I put all of you through this.”
Mido pulled her into a hug. “Shh… You don’t need to apologize. I understand why you ran off.”
Jessie pressed herself to his half-soaked body. She shouldn’t have given in to her desire to stay with him but she couldn’t resist him any more than breathing, broad sweaty shoulders and all. “Do you really understand?”
“Probably not a hundred percent, but don’t worry about it. No one’s mad at you.”
“Dyne looked pretty mad.”
“That’s just his disposition. Don’t take it personal.”
“What about Sauna and Scully?”
“What about them?”
“Are they just better at hiding their anger?”
He rubbed her back. “Sauna’s a softy. He likes you anyway. Scully just goes with the flow and, if anything, he enjoyed the excitement.”
“What?”
Mido straightened up and smiled at her. “Long story. He’s tested Captain’s patience many a time. Today was nothing extreme—well minus the close call with his transformation. That was an interesting sight.” He turned for the ticketing station. Jessie reluctantly peeled away and they began walking hand-in-hand. Mido wiped his glistening brow. “Now, we’re going to head to the ship and get our things, then book a hotel for two nights and take a much-needed vacation.”
“A hotel?” The idea both scared and thrilled her. She shouldn’t want it but she did.
“Don’t you want a break from the ship while we’re at port?”
“Oh, yes,” she said fervently. “After Tethys, I could use a nice long break from ships in general.”
“I bet. I’ll let you pick the hotel, okay?”
Jessie nodded, not sure what to think of it all. Ultimately, where else would they board up for two nights, besides under a tree or something? Maybe she should get Ed and Ted to share a room with them, to make sure she and Mido behaved. Bu
t… maybe the two techies wanted their own private time.
That ruled that idea out.
They hopped in line for Jessie’s refund without rescheduling her trip, then exited the station without a single guard accosting them. The other soaked passengers spoke in terrified whispers and pointed at Dyne as they all headed for the ticketing station, but otherwise they stayed way behind him. Who knew what tales they were weaving after seeing Dyne command water and turn blue? When Mido and Jessie got back on the sidewalk, Jessie turned one way as Mido tugged her towards the curb.
“We’re taking a cart. There’s no way I’m walking all the way back to the ship after running all the way from where we kissed, to a bar, then to Captain, and then to you. I’m beat.” His eyes darted downward. “And a little sore.”
“Sorry.”
“No more apologizing.” He squeezed her hand.
They flagged down a canopied cart powered by a cyclist and cuddled together once seated. The cyclist didn’t give them any grief after Mido explained how the water tower broke and flooded their train. They all agreed that the strong sun would dry off everything soon enough. The cart zipped along the busy streets with ease, and they rode in silence as they took in Revivre’s sights and sounds. They were just two of the crowd, a pleasant change of pace. Jessie consciously took in as much sensory information as she could, determined to use it all to recondition herself whenever she backslid.
The cart cyclist waited for them while they collected extra clothes and toiletries, then carted them to the hotel strip on the shore. By then their pants were damp, as if they’d been soaked through only with sweat. Yeah, she would want a shower as soon as possible, along with some fresh clothes. Mido paid the cyclist, then guided Jessie along the strip. There were hotels on both sides, but she kept her eye on the shore ones. For some reason she wanted one right on the beach. Maybe the location reminded her a bit of home. They walked hand-in-hand and slower than most pedestrians. People went around if they wanted to go faster. And when they came upon an elegant hotel named Nautilus Spa & Resort, Jessie stopped.
