Notes: Aaand we're back! It's been a minute (or two) but I hope you enjoy this Isidore POV as we start to settle into the plot of The Beyond :)
Title: The Beyond: Chapter Four
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Chapter Four
Photo by Rafael Oliveira
Isidore couldn’t help but breathe a silent sigh of relief when they finally docked at Cloverleaf Station. “Welcome aboard,” the station master, Elia Accambray, relayed through the radio as their airlock repressurized. “We’ve got your usual rooms set aside, and payment has already been made for your stay.”
Isidore frowned and waited for Wyl to say something about that, because prepayment wasn’t the standard for their stays at Cloverleaf, not when they made most of their money from bartering for goods on the station, but Wyl and Robbie were still wrapped around each other in the cockpit. He glanced at Kyle for a second, but Kyle was looking almost as out of it as Robbie, so after another moment Isidore took over. “That’s good to hear, if a little surprising. Would you mind forwarding the transaction log over, Elia?”
“Not a problem,” Elia replied easily. “I figured you’d want to doublecheck that it was permissible, but it came from a verified Alliance account with no red flags. I don’t recognize the name on the account, but you probably will.”
A second later the information came through the ship and registered in Isidore’s implant, which was still connected to the ship’s control systems. They kept their connections open while they were in the Beyond as a safety measure, and it took Isidore a moment to realize he could turn his receptivity down now. He did so, and was briefly startled by the silence in his own mind.
Kyle jolted and looked over at him with a surprised, almost hurt expression.
“Oh, I didn’t—”
“No, it’s okay,” Kyle said, but he put a foot of space between them anyway. “I just keep forgetting that you’re leaving after this.” He put on his Alexander smile. “Now’s as good a time as any to get used to it.”
Isidore wanted to reach out and pull him back in, to make it clear that there were no hard feelings on his side, but the data from the station was blinking in his visual implant, waiting for attention. He opened it and verified the balance on their account, then immediately checked the payer information. The numbers were gibberish as far as he was concerned, but the name—Gerald Caradog—clarified the situation.
“Garrett footed the bill for our stay this time,” Isidore said.
Kyle blinked. “Why would he do that?”
Isidore smiled. “Probably his version of a ‘welcome back to civilization’ gift. This way we can keep more of what we earn from our finds, which will help a lot once I’m—” He stopped right before he put his foot in his mouth, but Kyle caught it anyway.
“Once you’re gone.”
“Yeah.” Isidore wasn’t sure why he felt so awkward; he’d been living with Kyle for the past three years, as close as two people could be without living in each other’s skin, and even then they’d fucked around more than enough to qualify them as very good friends. “You know this isn’t the last time we’re going to see each other,” Isidore said as the ship continued its power-down protocols. “I’ll be on my way to pick you up the second I hear that you’re clear.”
Kyle looked pensive. “You could be waiting a very long time.”
“I don’t think so.” Garrett was working on their behalf, after all, and it might be naïve thinking, but Isidore was pretty sure that Garrett could do just about anything he set his mind to. “But even if it takes fifty years, I’ll come for you.”
The younger man finally cracked a smile. “You suck at being comforting, Iz.”
“Do I?”
“Yeah.” He bumped his shoulder. “But that’s okay, you make up for it in other ways.” The airlock was almost clear. “I’ll miss you.” Kyle sounded a little wistful.
“I’ll miss you too,” Isidore said. “But I’m going to be here for a few days. This isn’t goodbye yet.”
“I know.” Kyle’s eyes went vague in a way that meant he was checking his implant, and Isidore was momentarily startled to realize he couldn’t feel the movement of the other man’s mind at all. He was outside of their little bubble now, four members of the team becoming three, and he hadn’t realized he’d miss it until it was too late to get back in. “But I’ve got some stuff to handle and I’m not sure how long it will take, so don’t wait around for me if I’m a little scarce, okay?”
“What kind of stuff?” Isidore thought he knew all of Kyle’s stuff.
Kyle just smiled, and then the door was open and he was out the airlock and down the ramp before Isidore could say anything else to him. He even had his pack on his shoulder—when had he had time to pick that up? Isidore wanted to go after him, but he still had his own bags to grab out of his tiny room, not to mention he needed to debrief with Wyl and Robbie if they were ready. Which…so far, not looking good.
Isidore sighed and walked back down the hall to the little bunk that he’d laid claim to three long years ago. It was the closest to the mess, which suited him fine since he liked to get up for water at night, but also the smallest of the bunks and the only one that required you to bend down to get into it. He wasn’t going to miss that, but as he looked around the space—barely enough floor for two people standing side by side, a bunk that lifted up into the ceiling but was only wide enough for one person comfortably, the myriad drawers that sometimes turned into a puzzle if you opened too many of them at once—and he felt a pang go through him.
This was the closest he’d come to having family in a very long time. Even on Paradise, back before he’d been drawn into Garrett’s web of high-level espionage, Isidore had been alone for years after his parents were killed in a terrorist attack. Being imprisoned—either time—hadn’t been fun, but he’d appreciated being a part of something bigger than himself. He’d appreciated getting the chance to do something important, something that would hopefully make the universe a better place in the long run.
And now that part of his life was over. He was going to Solaydor, where Pence was already set up and where he had a home and a job waiting for him to step into, and Isidore hated to admit it, but he was ready for the change. Three years in a tiny spaceship doing things that terrified him on the regular was long enough. He knew he was lucky to be getting this break, but he also thought he deserved it.
That didn’t mean he liked watching Kyle run away from him like he was on fire.
Isidore picked up his two bags and walked back into the mess, where he found Wyl waiting for him. “Where’s Robbie?”
“He’s getting a little rest before we head in,” Wyl said, and his blasé attitude was almost believable if not for the tight skin around his eyes. “The approach tired him out more than usual this time.”
“That’s not surprising.” That was crazy, Isidore wanted to say, but Wyl didn’t like hearing words like “crazy” and “unreal” applied to what Robbie could do. Isidore couldn’t blame him. “I’m happy to wait with you,” he offered instead, and got a small but genuine smile out of Wyl.
“It’s okay, I know you have to be eager to see Pence again.”
“I am,” he admitted, and it was an easy thing to admit these days. Pence had gone from just another threat in Redstone to the most solid, reliable friend that Isidore had, with the potential to be more if the two of them had let themselves go like that. They hadn’t—it hadn’t felt right, when life in the Beyond was so unstable, and once Pence left the ship Isidore had assumed their chance was shot.
Then Pence had gotten an apartment on the planet where Isidore was cleared to work, and found a job for himself there, and sent Isidore messages with startling frequency, many of them far more romantic than he was expecting, and…the chance came back. It was here, right now, just outside the door to their ship’s berth, waiting for him.
“Good.” Wyl reached out and clasped his shoulder. “You deserve to have all the nice things, Iz. Everything you’ve done for us, everything you’ve been through to do it—I’ll never be able to repay you. We’ll never be able to repay you.”
“You don’t have to,” Isidore said, a little surprised. “I wanted to stay and help you.”
“I’m talking before, Iz.” Wyl shook his head. “Your connection was to Garrett, not to us. Not to Kyle, and definitely not to Robbie. I know you could have left a lot sooner, but I’m really grateful you stuck around as long as you did. It made our time out there a little less terrifying.”
“Wyl…” Isidore dropped his bags and pulled him into a hug and Wyl went easily, almost eagerly, until they were holding each other so tightly it hurt. Isidore felt a stab of unease go through him as he registered that Wyl was shaking ever so slightly, and maybe it was residual adrenaline from their passage to Cloverleaf, maybe it was sadness, or maybe it was because he was afraid for Robbie and doing his best not to show it.
Robbie and the coffee…that was unusual. He loved coffee, even when other foods and drinks appealed to him less and less. And being able to manipulate their ship through so many close calls, all thanks to the passenger he bore that he hadn’t even asked for, that had been forced on him by a psychopath who wanted to turn Robbie into his personal creation… “I could stay,” he said before he could second-guess himself. “If you need me to. I can stay.”
It felt right to make the offer, but Isidore had to admit he was relieved when Wyl immediately shook his head. “No, no,” he said. “It’s time for you to go start living your life, man. You’ve got a lot to look forward to. Don’t put it off any longer.”
“I’ll see you again.” Isidore wanted to make that clear. “I’ll see all of you again.”
“Yeah, at dinner,” Wyl said easily. “I’ve already reserved one of the big rooms off the main mess hall for us tonight, so be there. Drag Pence along too, I special ordered the booze he likes.”
Isidore made a face. “That stuff is foul.”
“I know, I think Redstone permanently fucked up his taste buds,” Wyl agreed. “But I mean it. We’re not done yet, and even if we don’t see you in person for a while, I expect regular messages.”
“You’ll get them,” Isidore promised. He finally let go of Wyl and glanced down the hall at their closed door. “Want me to wait with you?”
Wyl waved him off. “Nah, Robbie might be a while. Go ahead, go say hi to Pence and we’ll see you at dinner.” He smiled sharply. “I’ll make sure Kyle is there too.”
“Thanks.” Isidore leaned in and kissed Wyl on both cheeks, an old Paradisian greeting he hadn’t used in a while, then grabbed his bags, turned, and headed down the ramp.
The shuttle bay was pretty spacious for a little craft like theirs, but dark and cold, and the air seemed to fizz slightly in the way that a place that had been exposed to too much radiation sometimes could. Isidore knew that the radiation levels on Cloverleaf were strictly accounted for, but it still made him uneasy to be so close to the exterior of the station. He walked quickly to the exit, let the doors sense his presence and open, and then—
Light, yellow and warm. Heat, and with it the scent of food and people and air that he hadn’t been recycling for months on end. And in the center of the hallway in front of him, arms crossed insouciantly but face smiling a broad welcome, was Pence, familiar despite the loss of his moustache and the new, vibrant blue suit he was wearing.
Isidore dropped his bags without realizing it and rushed over to the other man just in time for him to unfold his arms with a laugh and catch Isidore in them. He was subjected to a second crushing hug in as many minutes, but this one left him warm and happy, and the fizz seemed to be bubbling up inside of him now, overflowing into laughter as they embraced, rocking from side to side.
“There you are,” Pence murmured. “At last.”
Isidore pressed suddenly wet eyes against his lover’s shoulder and sighed a tremendous sigh of relief.
“Here I am.”
