Chapter Eleven — Part 4

Once out of Otherspace and into Realspace, I worked alone at my task of dispatching the bodies. I launched them through the airlock and wiped the blood off the cargo bay floor. I turned my attentions to Fluff and Lotus. “Will you help me get this ship around, Fluff?”

“He’ll help.” Lotus said, “And I’ll be your most loyal crew, if you need one.”

I bit my tongue, because I wanted to tell her that I didn’t need anything from her. Had we not gone to that dance, Fluff would still be mine, my parents would still be alive, and she’d be with another suitor.

I slowly undid my fists. “That’s acceptable.” I looked at Captain Reed. “Will you be crew?”

“I would be honored. I’m a weapon’s tactical specialist, it is a genetic advantage of mine.” Captain Reed said, his voice raspy.

“Very well, I won’t demote you to first mate. Instead I’ll make you Captain in charge of Navigation. Though you’re probably older physically, I’m Senior Captain aboard the Persimmon.” I turned my attention to my new crew. “If at any time any of you losers feels the urge to mutiny, talk to me first. I’m not an unfair or cruel leader.” I said. “You’re all dismissed. The Persimmon will train you at Navigation, Captain Reed. You’ll pull double duty as weapons master, Fluff will assist you while he’s aboard.”

When Fluff and Lotus left the cargo bay for their quarters, and Reed left for the bridge, I started to cry. My eyes burned with tears big and bitter, more so than any I had ever felt in my short life. I fell to my knees, only to be caught up by powerful limbs. I couldn’t see through my tears at first, but soft warm hands held me, hands big enough to hold my head in one of their palms.

When I finally cleared my eyes, Captain Reed’s voice filled my ears. “Hush child.” He whispered rhythmically, rocking me, “Tears from a pirate are no tears at all.”

He rocked me like a mother rocks her child, and I was probably about the size of one of his children. I cried a while longer, and pushed my head close to his chest, which felt nothing like a human chest. Its warm, unyielding scales seemed softer for Reed’s concern. His faceted, unblinking eyes seemed to peer straight through me.

“Why are you crying, little pirate,” He asked.

“I am truly alone, my family is dead.”

“I know the pain of being alone, and the power. I’m Hunter Reed, I’m Captain Reed. The stars that shine brightly and I are one — I know loneliness and yet I embrace it, because it is what the universe sometimes feels, alone. One of many, but still one of a kind.”

“Are you one of the great 108?” I wondered, awed at his equanimity.

“I don’t know. Shaman McKechni called me something like that. He called me the Alien Glass Buddha.”

“Shaman McKechni. Who’s that?” I said.

“Someone I met while drifting in Otherspace. He was a strange man with many bodies, and he was very nice to me. He spoke to you and gave you that necklace. He lives there, most of the time, in Otherspace, because his planet was destroyed when its star went supernova. I don’t know if he is a vision, or if I was his vision, but he wasn’t a body in Otherspace, he was a spirit.” He said.

He retracted and extended his claws, and it made me wonder why he didn’t do this when he reached for me in Otherspace. Probably fear. “What are we going to do now?”

“We’re going to save the universe, of course.” I said, wiping the last of my tears away.

Deep inside I felt my mind and heart switch modes. I walked to the bridge, pulled the crystal out of its data case and studied it closely. This data crystal held a thousand lives in its memory, and could store a thousand more. It reached into me, sending its data stream without my request. I felt invaded, as if my very soul was being torn apart, and I rebelled, forcing the knowledge into a blank part of my mind. I don’t know how I did it, but I did. Then the crystal started to pull my memories from me, and tried to rearrange them, and some part of my mind went on the offensive.

The data crystal shattered violently, and my own blood trickled through my fingers. My mind had taken all the knowledge and carefully dumped it in some unused part of my brain. I was now the governor of the Forever Children, and I knew I had to protect them at all costs — because I would be the last governor. Captain Bit, pirate, governor of the Forever Children, last of the angels. Too many masks as far as I was concerned.

I looked up at Captain Reed, who was at the battle stations, awaiting my commands. “What have I done?” I said, staring at my bleeding hands.

“You’ve cut yourself.” Captain Reed pulled the shards of the crystal from my hands. He took a first aid kit from the wall, and opened the antiseptic, daubing my wounds with quick, thorough movements, and wrapped my hands in clean white bandages.

I didn’t wonder for long at the fate of the crystal. As the Persimmon lay adrift in Realspace, I studied the recent news files. I knew there was a link between Prince Wastik and the plight of the Scandivats, and I had to think of a reason. While I wracked my limited mental reserves, Captain Reed whistled to himself. He sung in three note sequences, and they sounded too structured. As I listened, I realized that he was speaking to himself in his language. Noting this, but not knowing how to use it, I went back to studying recent events.

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