Haruhi safely seated among the other kids her age Morgan returned to the chapel, grabbing a seat at the back near the door this time.
Truth be told she dozed a bit, without Haruhi to keep an eye on or any desire to listen to the teacher.
She was only dimly aware as the second part ended and the men left for their smaller room. Given the gender realities of starship work the largest single group present each week was the adult women, so they got to stay in the chapel. Thankfully, the song at the end woke her up, and even did so gradually enough that she didn’t jerk awake and draw attention to herself.
Collecting Haruhi took some minutes, most of the people present were all too happy to visit and chat amongst themselves, while the children generally ran about and had fun.
Usually Morgan let Haruhi mingle until the parents started leaving with their children, but today they had somewhere to be. Morgan did a quick check to make sure Haruhi hadn’t gotten her dress dirty somehow – unlikely at church, but Haruhi had once managed to come home from school muddy once. On a space station.
Haruhi was fine, so off they went with a wave to her friends.
As they got back onto the main network of corridors, Haruhi started skipping ahead, now knowing the complicated path back to their quarters by heart.
“Come back, Haruhi. We need to go somewhere else before we go home.”
The little girl complied, hopping back, her hand slipping into Morgan’s.
“Did you have fun at church?” Morgan asked as they walked.
“Yep! We learned about Daniel and the lions.” Haruhi paused for a moment, then added, “Aunt Morgan, what are lions?”
Morgan chuckled. Hopefully, the lesson’s main point had been conveyed better than information about the animals involved. Granted, Morgan only knew what a lion was because it was the symbol of their neighboring planet of Albion. Many species had been transplanted all over the galaxy from Earth, being useful or pretty, or even a few that had been able to sneak aboard ships and survive the journey. Lions were not any of those things, and only existed on Earth – maybe. Morgan had spent an afternoon learning about the animals, curious after encountering the seal of Albion, and learned about their habitats on Earth. They had been doing quite well after a long time at risk of extinction when contact was lost with Sol.
“Lions are like a very big cat. They aren’t nice like cats though. They hunt other animals for food.”
“Oh.”
They walked quietly for a bit, Haruhi clearly thinking about big mean cats.
“Would the lion have eaten Daniel?”
Morgan hesitated in answering. The last time she’d truthfully answered a question like this Gertrude had a very long night as a terrified Haruhi kept waking up from nightmares. That had been near the beginning of Morgan’s stay with Gertrude, though, and Haruhi had grown quite a bit since then. It was also apparently important to the religious story, and the teachers had felt it appropriate to talk about in the first place. . .
“Lions didn’t normally hurt people, but yes, the lion could have.”
“Daniel was brave.”
“I’m sure he was,” Morgan agreed, though she didn’t actually know the story she was talking about.
Morgan paused a moment to check her uplink map and make sure they were still going the right way. She’d only been to the Daystar Fading’s docking slip twice, and both of those times she’d started at their quarters, not the chapel. She was getting better at navigating the confusing space station, but better and good weren’t the same thing in this case. At least she’d been able to get a supplemental program for her uplink allowing it to make sense of the map and give proper directions.
“Where are we going?”
“Well. It’s sort of a surprise.”
Morgan closed down her uplink holo-map. There were actually making good time, and it was only a few turns more. They should be able to see the ship soon. If Haruhi recognized the ship that would be the end of the surprise, but given how far away it would be Morgan thought it unlikely.
“We’re not going to go shopping.” It wasn’t a question, not really. Haruhi had balked the first time Morgan had tried to use her day off for shopping – most things they could get delivered, but Haruhi had grown so much that she needed a whole new wardrobe, and that meant fittings.
“No, we’re not going shopping. Do you want this to be a surprise or not?”
“Nope. Are we going to see someone?”
“It’s a surprise!”
“Uh-huh. Who?”
“I didn’t say it was a person.”
“Didn’t say no.”
The pair came around a bend, entering the observation ring that ran nearly the whole exterior of the main hold of the station. They actually weren’t far from the Fate of Dawn, just ahead of them on their right. Its rounded cylindrical shape was a comfort in its own way, because all the hull plating and external hatches were closed – there would be no more maintenance and repair work on the ship’s exterior before they left on their delivery route.
“There’s your ship, Aunt Morgan. Are we going there?”
“That is my ship, but no, not today. No work on my day off.”
“Then where?” Haruhi dragged out the second word, acting a bit more exasperated than Morgan suspected she really was.
“You’ll see.”
The next slip, the largest in the whole bay, was Steve’s. They were still working on maintenance, and several of the cargo bays had been pulled out. They were balanced at the bottom of the slip, separated by a few meters of empty space in the zero gravity of the bay, to allow easier access to the framework.
They stopped for a moment to look at it.
“Which ship is that, Aunt Morgan?”
Morgan felt a pang of regret as she looked at the scarred bulk. Such a beautiful machine. The moment passed and she turned to Haruhi.
“That’s Steve. It’s the biggest ship here.”
“It looks different.”
“It is. It’s a very old ship.”
“Are we going there?”
Morgan chuckled. “You don’t give up, huh? No, we aren’t. Come on then.”
They walked on, Morgan giving Haruhi’s hand a quick squeeze.
As they passed the side passage that led back to the crew area for the Daystar Fading the previously empty corridor rapidly gave way to a small throng of people headed towards the docking slip. Most of them Morgan at least recognized by sight, if not by name. Haruhi looked around, taking in the cheerful faces about them, the children bouncing up and down, and then looked back to Morgan.
“Momma?” she whispered, halting in her tracks.
Morgan gave her a big smile of her own.
“So much for the surprise, then.”
Haruhi didn’t bother responding, instead tugging at Morgan’s hand as she surged forwards, using her small size to squeeze between the adults around them. Morgan kept up, barely, her tight grip on Haruhi’s hand keeping her from going too fast.
The lobby outside each docking slip was intentionally large for occasions such as this. It was quite full apart from the roped off section in the middle to give the crew room to disembark. The large airlock doors were still closed, so they hadn’t arrived late.
They managed to squeeze close to the front, but not all the way, so after a few moments of Haruhi jumping up and down trying to see Morgan grabbed her under the arms and lifted her up onto her shoulders. Even with their combined heights, Haruhi could only see over some of the crowd, but it was still better than nothing.
They stood there for long minutes, but nobody seemed to mind. There was a definite festive feel to the air, and everyone was happy the long months were over, making minutes seem like nothing and an eternity at the same time.
The announcement system crackled to life in the lobby at last.
“This is Daystar Fading Actual. We are moored.” The next bit Morgan couldn’t understand because of a quick cheer from most of the people pr
esent. “All crew except designated watch standers are released for two days R&R. Be sure to be back promptly after that. We still have a lot of work to do.”
The line clicked off, accompanied by a somewhat quieter cheer.
“She talks funny,” Haruhi said, leaning down to whisper in Morgan’s ear.
“A lot of the officers talk like that. I thought it was funny too. I asked someone about it, and they said that it’s the way the military talks.”
“Why?”
“I’m not sure they even know. Because they’ve done it that way for hundreds of years.”
“She’s that old?”
Morgan laughed.
“No, the military, not her personally.”
“Oh.”
The seals on the airlock hissed, releasing air to equalize pressure inside and out. Once that was done the two halves of the door groaned slightly as they started pulling apart, sliding into the floor and ceiling slowly.
There was no rush forward by the waiting crowd, most of them had done this enough that they knew better, and the few that hadn’t – like Morgan – were held in place either by their fellows or common sense.
It was still a minute or two before the first of the crew emerged into the lobby. Waves and shouted greetings flew back and forth, and people flowed towards the back end of the room to meet their loved ones.
Haruhi was bouncing up and down enough that Morgan was having trouble keeping her balance.
“Calm down , Haru. It won’t be long now.”
Haruhi stopped fidgeting, for a minute anyway.
It was easy to forget how large a crew a modern freighter had, given how compartmentalized the crew was. Cooks and pilots, mechanics and nurses, officers, mercenaries who acted as security, engineers, a couple botanists for the hydroponics bay, even counselors and barbers.
Given that Gertrude was the chief for one of the engine maintenance crews, Morgan wasn’t surprised that the crowd leaving the ship had thinned considerably – accompanied by a similar thinning of the waiting family as they slowly made their way back towards their quarters – with no sign of Gertrude. It was a long way from the airlock to the engine spaces and their quarters, since the Daystar was laid out to have crew quarters near their workspaces, rather than centralized in designs like the Fate of Dawn or Steve.
At last, Morgan caught a glimpse of wavy brown hair, shorter than she remembered perhaps, but still familiar.
“Down,” Haruhi ordered, impatiently, almost toppling them over as she tried to help Morgan put her down. Haruhi rushed forward, a shouted “Momma,” as she flung herself at the skinsuited figure. Gertrude barely had time to move her duffel bag to the side in order to catch the flying little girl.
“Oh my, little one,” Gertrude said, her face positively beaming, “You’re not so little anymore.”
Gertrude kept walking, hugging Haruhi tightly, and meeting up with Morgan at the end of the lobby. Morgan hugged the pair of them tightly.
“Welcome home, G,” Morgan said simply.
“It feels good to be home,” Gertrude whispered.
Shifting Haruhi in closer Gertrude managed to get the strap of the duffel bag off, so Morgan take it. The trio started back towards their quarters, Gertrude letting Morgan take the lead. Morgan briefly wondered if Gertrude remembered how to get there after all this time. She hadn’t exactly had a lot of time to learn the layout before leaving, after all.
“You’re looking pretty today, Haru. Did you have fun at church?”
“Yes, Momma. I missed you.”
“I missed you too, honey. But I’m home now, and I won’t need to go away for quite a while. I hope you were good for Aunt Morgan?”
Haruhi nodded briefly before snuggling in closer, burying her head in Gertrude’s shoulder.
Haruhi babbled to Gertrude the whole way back to their quarters, about nothing really, day-to-day things, the other kids in her class, a veritable flood of the tiny details of life. Gertrude listened in rapt attention, of course, sighing every occasionally in contentment.
Once they were home, Morgan made dinner while Haruhi showed Gertrude all the things she learned and made over the preceding months. Even as Gertrude put Haruhi to bed, Morgan still hadn’t had a chance to talk with her friend.
Morgan didn’t mind though. She understood a little bit what Haruhi was feeling. She had missed Gertrude herself, after all, and she still sometimes thought about what she’d say to her parents if she ever had the chance to talk to them.
“I’ve made it, Daddy, Momma,” she murmured to the walls as Gertrude told Haruhi a bedtime story. “I’ve made a life for myself.”
Once Gertrude had safely seen Haruhi to sleep, she sat down next to Morgan on the couch.
Gertrude let out a big breath, sagging a bit as she finally let her weariness show.
“Were the months as long for you as they were for us?” Morgan asked.
“Longer, I imagine. It’s going to be hard to leave again, even if I get ten months here first.”
“Yeah.”
“You’ll have to do it soon, you know. How long until you ship out?”
“A few weeks. I’ll be here for Haru’s birthday, at least.”
“That’s something. Look, Morgan. . .” Gertrude started to say.
“You don’t owe me a thing, G. Watching over Haruhi for you was worth every moment.”
“And your work? I’ve heard the stories about the Fate of Dawn. The hazing disguised as extra duties or emergency repairs?”
“Survivable.”
“It can’t be easy, having a captain who doesn’t like you.”
“I doubt it helps, but really it isn’t that bad. I don’t think I’ve seen her more than a handful of times across ten months.”
Gertrude narrowed her eyes, looking at Morgan.
“What is it?”
“What?”
“You seem, distant somehow.”
“Oh. Just. . . thinking about my parents, I guess.”
“I guess it isn’t easy watching Haru and me, knowing you won’t see your parents ever again.”
“I’m used to that. It helps, reminding myself that they gave me up so I’d have a better life.”
“Thinking about where you’d be if you hadn’t left?”
“Not really. It isn’t hard to imagine. By now I’d probably have three kids and a husband I might like, if I was lucky. Or not, if he’d died in the mines.”
“What a terrible way to live.”
“For most. Some of the people there were still happy. They made themselves find the little scraps of happiness they could. Their kids, their spouse. Stories told around the fires where the Tinnys couldn’t hear.”
“Doesn’t sound like a life you’d like much?”
“No. I think by now I’d even miss the mines, the chance to fix things.”
Gertrude chuckled.
“Born mechanic.”
“I take after my dad.”
“You’ve mentioned before that he was an engineer.”
“A good one. I’ve spent some time here and there looking at his research. I still can’t quite grasp all of it, and there isn’t anything like it out here. Though there isn’t much need given the gravity levels of most settled planets.”
“You’ll get there.”
They sat in companionable silence for several minutes before Gertrude asked another question.
“Are you going to be okay?”
“Of course, G.”
“It’s hard, being alone on a ship for that long. I know I missed you as much as I did Haruhi.”
“I doubt that.”
“Well, okay. Almost as much. You’ll miss us too.”
“Why did we choose this life again?”
“I think the standard answer from my coworkers is ‘adventure and babes.’”
Morgan laughed.
“That’s it. Definitely.”
Gertrude smiled.
“I should get some sleep. It was a long day.”
/>
“Goodnight, G. It’s good to have you back.”
“Goodnight, Morgan. Don’t stay up too late.”
Morgan sat there for twenty minutes or so, not really regretting her choice to be a mechanic but regretting the sacrifices that went along with it.
It was still worth it. She believed that. She’d get to see more of the galaxy than the vast majority of people ever did. For a girl who’d grown up not even seeing her own sun that was a pretty good deal, if a bit lonely.
She thought of Haruhi, and whether she’d ever get a chance to have kids of her own, and how that would affect her career.
Well, no sense worrying about that yet. She wasn’t even eighteen Earth years old yet, plenty of times for everything, especially since she could look forward to a few hundred years at least.
CHAPTER 16
Everyone knows that piracy is dead. That it is nothing more than an abandoned barbarism of a forgotten age when the inhabited worlds were far apart and help even farther. Everyone knows that with gates guarded and governments strong piracy can never happen again. They’re mostly right. Privateering, on the other hand. . .
- Captain Charles Talmadge the Third, Unified Defense Fleet, Holdor System
SIX ZION MONTHS LATER / FIVE AND A HALF EARTH MONTHS
MORGAN WEARILY SLUNK through the Fate of Dawn’s dimly lit corridors, making her way towards her bunk. The ship was five hundred meters long and nearly half that wide, and a three meter by five meter room was all that was hers. Well, hers and the other five girls who shared the cramped room, anyway.
Her uplink had notified her that a letter had come for her from Gertrude with the last courier boat that had transited the system. If she hurried she could watch it alone while the rest of them were getting dinner.
Most people would have just listened to it direct on the uplink, but Morgan wanted to use the screen at her desk. Bigger picture and clearer than the holodisplay.
It wasn’t that living with the five other techs had also made Morgan a little self-conscious about her relative clumsiness with the uplink. No, not at all.
To be fair to herself, there was the added fact that while most people thought nothing of others overhearing their messages Morgan hated eavesdropping and eavesdroppers. Unfortunately, privacy in general was at best a polite fiction in a technological society. Gertrude, and Haruhi of course, were family. These five near strangers were not.
The Long Black (The Black Chronicles Book 1) Page 23
