Paradise Post #9

Notes: So…you’re going to read this and then you’re going to want to strangle me, because…bit of a cliffhanger.  Just a little one.  Teensy.  Weensy.  Little cliffhanger.  And still no sex.  WHYYYYYY?????  Well, because, lovers.  But enjoy it all the same.

 

Title: Paradise

 

Part Nine: Listen Up

 

 

 

***

 

 

Jealousy.  It was an ugly word.  It was a word that Garrett had heard thrown in his direction by far too many people to completely discount.  Garrett knew, he was perfectly aware, of his tendency to be proprietary towards people and things.  He played and he tasted and he sampled, but when he found something he wanted to keep, he sank his claws in and clamped down tight.  He had tried to break that mold with Robbie, and look what that affair had turned into: history. 

Jealousy was indicative of all sorts of other less than savory emotional and physical habits, like clinginess, a sharp tongue, a complete disregard for personal privacy…in short, it meant Garrett acting like an asshole.  So he tried to reel it back, tried to consciously prevent himself from behaving like an ingrate for Jonah’s sake.  It was hardly his fiancé’s fault that he was too polite to tell Kilroy Whoever-the-fuck-he-was to take his overture of friendship and shove it.  The man wanted to “talk.”  That was fine, Jonah could talk with whomever he wanted to.  Garrett knew, he did, that nothing the man could say would persuade Jonah to go back to that life, so there really wasn’t anything to worry about.

Plus, he was too busy to worry.  Garrett had let his work schedule slip those first couple of weeks, and after a firm discussion with Martina over the com, he threw himself into the backlog.  That, plus tutoring Cody for four hours a day, plus helping Claudia decide between cream colored or ecru linens, daily conversations with Wyl and occasionally Miles and Robbie, and doing his damndest to exhaust his lover every night meant he was completely played out.  There was no time for indulging subconscious fears.

Well…that wasn’t completely true.

“You want a what?”

“A slimdisc.  Just for listening!” Garrett emphasized.  “I don’t need visual, I just want to be able to hear what they’re saying.”

“Gare…” Robbie looked as close to floored as Garrett had ever seen him.  “You do realize that you’re asking me to help you spy on your fiancé.  You don’t think that’s overkill?  You could just ask him about his talk once it’s over with.”

“Jonah’s not going to tell me the things he thinks will upset me, though.”

“And that might be smart,” Robbie rejoined, “given the way you’re acting now.”

“Oh please, as though you aren’t just as interested in finding out what those Drifters are up to,” Garrett scoffed.  “You’d have him bugged yourself if you thought he’d agree.”

“But he won’t.  I know that, without even having to ask, which is how I know that Jonah isn’t going to appreciate this from you.”

“He doesn’t have to know.”

“Gare—”

Garrett slammed his hand down on the desk between them.  The noise startled both of them.  “I’m coming to you with this because I need this, Robbie.  It’s ugly and it’s stupid and it’s unworthy, but surprise!  That’s me sometimes.  I can’t sink any lower in your estimation of me, you’ve known me for too long.  I’m trying to preserve Jonah’s illusions for just a little bit longer, so please, help me with this.  Or I’ll risk what’s left of my reputation by asking around on the open market.”

Robbie looked honestly bewildered.  “What…Gare, I don’t think badly of you.”  He narrowed his eyes.  “You’re sweating.  What’s really going on?  Are you sick?”

“I’m fine.”  And he was.  Completely fine, except for this strange, tugging ache inside of his chest.  It felt like someone was hammering, very gently, on his heart, trying to pry it loose from its attachments.  Anxiety.  It was just anxiety.  “Are you going to help me or not?”

“Fucking hell.”  Robbie made a face, then stood up and turned to one of the in-wall cabinets.  One touch opened the drawer, from which he took a small plastic container.  He pulled something out of it, resealed the drawer and came back to sit on the desk beside Garrett.  “Slimdisc,” he said, putting the transparent circle in Garrett’s hand.  “The transponder number can be read by and synced to your com.  It’s got a very limited range and it’s very fragile, so don’t get it wet or run it into anything.  Take the tab off the back and it’ll stick to his clothes.”

“Thank you,” Garrett said fervently.  He stood up and hugged Robbie, enjoying the way it made the hammers in his heart slow down for a moment.

“Just don’t make this into a slippery slope,” Robbie grumbled.  “And if you hear anything about bugging us, I want to know about it immediately.  That’s the justification for me giving you this tech, got it?”

“Got it.”  Garrett pulled back and tried not to wince as his chest began to hurt again.  “I’ll be good.  I promise.”  He left, and tried not to let the irony of his last statement get the better of him as he brushed his com against the slimdisc, then went to find Jonah so he could attach it to him before his meeting.

Jonah and Cody were at the family breakfast table, along with Miles and Claudia and Renee.  Cody was eating, but all Jonah had was a cup of coffee in his hands.  He stared at it pensively, brows drawn together, but he perked up when he saw Garrett.  “Hey, darlin.”  He reached an arm out and pulled Garrett into a kiss.  It was almost too easy to slip the slimdisc under the hem of the front of his shirt, and as soon as he did a wave of guilt wracked Garrett, so strong that he felt weak in the aftermath.  He covered it up by sliding onto Jonah’s lap and turning their kiss into something deep and long and almost overpowering.  Distantly he heard Claudia giggle and Cody make a gagging sound, but he didn’t care.  Everything was fine as long as Jonah didn’t push him away.

The kiss finally ended, and Jonah looked at him starry-eyed.  “What brought that on?”

“Oh, nothing in particular,” Garrett said easily, waiting for his legs to stop trembling so he could stand up.  “Just indulging a whim.”

“Try to hold off on indulging like that until you’re in the bedroom,” Miles said dryly from across the table.  He had Renee in his arms and was feeding her a bottle.  “The rest of us are trying to eat.”

“You’ve seen worse.”

“Oh, I know.  That doesn’t mean I want to relive your teenage years.”

“You’ve done worse yourself,” Claudia reminded her husband, coming in on Garrett’s side.  “I think it’s sweet.  And hot.”

“Ooh, naughty step-mommy!” Garrett grinned.  He felt his legs steady and got to his feet, resolutely not staring at the spot where he’d left the slimdisc.  “What are you two doing today?”

“I’m talking to the caterer at three,” Claudia said.  “Will you be here?”

“I should be.  I’ve got a ton of work to catch up on.”

Cody’s face fell.  “Does that mean you still can’t come look for salamapedes with me and Thérèse?”

“Sorry, Cody.”  Garrett squeezed his shoulder gently.  “But you’ve got the container I made you to put one in, right?”  Cody nodded.  “When you guys get back, we can look up the taxonomy of it together, okay?  Your teacher will be so impressed with your biology study when we get home.”

“Can Daddy help too?”

“If Daddy is home by then.”  Garrett arched a brow at Jonah.

“I should be,” Jonah said.  “Can’t imagine my meeting with Kilroy’ll last more than an hour or so.”

“Lovely.  And you’re taking Kelly?”

“I’m taking Corporal Kelly,” Jonah agreed, rolling his eyes.  “Anything else?”

“Not a thing.”

They went their separate ways after breakfast, and Garrett retreated to his ship, where he did all of his work.  Also, there he could copy the transponder onto the ship’s com, which would make for easier listening.

Really, at first it was pretty boring.  Garrett calculated out climate modeling equations, modified his various programs and tried not to feel relieved when the minutes passed and all that Jonah and Kilroy talked about was common acquaintances, shipside issues and various ports they’d visited.  Maybe his paranoia had all been for nothing.  Maybe everything really was fine.  Maybe…

“Can’t get a permit to land on Ostria anymore,” Kilroy griped over the line between noisy sips from a mug.  “Can’t get permits on half the planets in the Fringe these days, not for the big ships, and our little shuttles just ain’t big enough fast enough, y’know?  If we had an emergency and had to land, some places would as soon shoot us out of the sky as look at us.”

“That’s rough,” Jonah said, and he really sounded like he meant it.

“It is.  Havin’ to resort to other options, these days.  Lotsa people don’t like Drifters, but tell ‘em you’re something else and they can’t welcome you fast enough.  I came into Gregoryville broadcastin’ a Federation signal and they rolled out the red carpet.”

“Broadcasting another ship’s transponder code is illegal.”

“We don’t use ‘em more than once,” Kilroy said placatingly.  “Not lookin’ to get pinched by the Feds, or ruin anyone’s reputation.  It’s not a charade we can keep up for long, you know, pretendin’ to be Federation.  Independent merchantmen, they’re a better bet, but a little harder to get codes for.”

There was a long silence.  “So you do have a skimmer.”

“How’d you know that, Jonah?”

“It’s how you found me, isn’t it.”  His voice was angry.  “You’re skimming ships as they land here.  God damn it, Kilroy, do you know how much trouble you’ll be in if the Feds can confirm this?  Your whole clan could be brought in for questioning, they could arrest people…hell, even if they don’t, the fines would cripple you.  You can’t do this any longer.”

“No other choice,” Kilroy said softly, but he was just as angry.  “You don’t see it anymore, do you?  Their constant disdain.  Their classist bullshit.  Like we’re nothin’ to them, like we’re not even people just because of how we choose to live: free, not tied to a single planet.  You used to care about this, Jonah.  Used to get you riled up, how people would disregard us, lie to us, ignore us.  You used to be a fighter.  Then came a pile of shit about your kid and your momma and your man—”

“Don’t talk about Cody to me.”

“And you gave up.  Gave up on the life you love, the life that made you the man you are, because your little feelins got hurt.  Well guess what, boy?  The wound don’t vanish just cause you slap a bandage over it.  You ain’t seein’ it now, but us, we’re livin’ it still.  And if I gotta steal a few codes to get my people fed, to get them care and support them, then that’s what I’ll do.”

In the sudden silence, Garrett realized he’d just typed over a thousand zeros in a row because he wasn’t paying attention.  He began to repair the code, slowly, captivated despite himself.

“I don’t see what you want from me,” Jonah said at last, sounding tired.  “I won’t tell anyone you’re skimming,” Garrett bit his lip as he heard that part, feeling guilty about Jonah and Robbie now, “but I’m just a guest here.”

“But you have friends in high places.  If you heard the right things, got into the right places…maybe left a microskimmer here and there—”

“I am not helping you spy on my fiancé’s family!” Jonah hissed.  “That’s a military facility as much as a residence, and when—not if, when—they found the skimmers, you could go down for treason.  They could hang you for that, Kilroy.”

“Not if we were already gone.  I’m that desperate, Jonah.”  And determined, from the sound of it.  “Figured I might not be enough to convince you, though.  Soon as I heard you arrive here, I sent word to a mutual acquaintance of ours.  Someone you might be more willin’ to listen to than me.  Someone with personal business with you.”  There was the sound of a chair scraping back, and a moment later Jonah’s breath caught in his throat.  Another chair scraped, then there was the sound of breaking pottery, a cut-off swear word—

Then nothing.  The slimdisc went dead.

“Oh no.”  Garrett checked the transponder signal, then tried his com.  Nothing.  “Oh no no no…”

Shit.  The connection was gone.  From the sound of things, it had probably gotten wet when the zawhatever-it-was broke.  Shit.  Mutual acquaintance?  Personal business?  If it was someone Kilroy knew, it couldn’t be good. 

Garrett’s first urge was to call up Jonah and tell him to come home immediately.  His second urge was to drive into the city, track Jonah down and bring him back in person.  Neither of those options worked if he wanted to keep his bug a secret, though.

He’s okay.  Physically, Jonah had to be fine.  Corporal Kelly was with him, and if anything was wrong, he would have sent an alarm back to Robbie before diving into the fray.  The kid was a brutal fighter, Garrett had seen him exercising with the other marines.  He could handle a Drifter; hell, he could handle a dozen of them.  So Jonah was fine.

But that sound, oh…that choked sound of surprise and shock.  That hadn’t been good.  Garrett’s own throat tightened just to remember it.  But there was nothing he could do.  He had to wait for Jonah to come home.  He just had to wait.

Garrett stared at his program but didn’t see it, and clenched his hands in time with the painful hammer of his heart.  He just had to wait.  That was all he could do now.

Hey, shiny!



Omg, see the shiny?  The new pages on the sidebar, one for Vignette: Tsunami and any future vignettes I write, and one for all the Paradise posts up to now?  Focus on that, not the fact that I still have to post the latest chapter of Paradise (it's coming, one more day, lovers).  Yay for shinies!  I hope those pages help interested readers to get caught up without too much clicking and scrolling.

What else...Boulder has leapt into fall wholeheartedly, and we've had freezing rain and snow in the past few days.  So awesome.  The new house is great (pictures coming soon), work is...well, work, but it's consistent, I'm querying the hell out of my novel, I've done my familial duty for the forseeable future by inviting my siblings to Thanksgiving...yeah.  Lookin' good.

Paradise soon, and more information on The Captain as well!  It's in the hands of two trusty betas as we speak.

Paradise Post #8

Notes: Aww, cockblocked by plot!  I had this awesome sex scene going, I wrote most of it out, and then I realized that it wasn’t what was needed here.  The story needed to be furthered more than my intimate encounter could do for us, so I’m saving that particularly dirty scene for later and giving you…this.  Still good, though!

 

Title: Paradise

 

Part Eight: Grin and Bear It

 

 

 

***

 

 

                Contrary to what a lot of people seemed to think, Jonah was not, and had never been, easily fooled.  It wasn’t hard to tell that there was a lot of discomfort in the air, most of it stemming from Garrett.  There was an edge between him and Robbie, something beyond simply being former lovers surrounded by present ones, an edge born of secrets and a disinclination to share them.  Jonah didn’t press his fiancé about it even though he was curious, because there was another edge in the air as well, resting firmly between himself and Garrett, and he didn’t know what to do about it. 

That it pertained to the Drifters in orbit, Jonah knew.  That their existence somehow meant that Jonah was suddenly going to abandon everything he had and whisk Cody away into the stars to live with his history again, well, there weren’t even words for that kind of crazy.  He’d never give up what he had now, not without a hell of a fight, and he couldn’t say it any more clearly than that.  He had said it, in fact.  Garrett just smiled, comforted but not fully appeased.

                There were layers to Garrett’s anxiety, stacked up and sifting over and through each other, changing a little more every day.  The man had the most complicated heart that Jonah had ever encountered, and if blunt declarations didn’t do the trick, then Jonah could be more subtle.  He spent every night in Garrett’s arms, no matter how hot it got or how long it took him to fall asleep.  He woke up with him every morning, unless Garrett had taken off first.  He kissed him whenever he saw him, light and easy, and every time his lover smiled a little more freely.  

                Their bed became a strange, sort of sacred space, one where they almost never spoke.  Two weeks into their visit and they were still making love every night or morning, more often if Garrett could get him along during the day.  Garrett was determined, creative and exhaustive, and after the first couple times Jonah welcomed the addition of a sound-dampening cloth strung up over their bed like a canopy, muffling all sound to the outside world but encapsulating it for the lovers inside, giving each gasp or laugh or moan a special sort of poignancy.

                Jonah pulled out of his lover and stretched out beside him, overheated despite the cool temperature of the room.  Garrett’s skin was tacky with cum and lube and sweat, and they stuck a little wherever they touched.  Neither of them minded very much.  “No school with Cody today?” he asked idly, stroking his fingers into Garrett’s hair.  It was starting to grow out again, silky gold shining against Jonah’s tan hand.

                “No lessons, no work, no checking in with Jezria, and Claudia has promised to leave us alone,” Garrett replied, groaning with satisfaction as he rubbed his thighs together.  Claudia had taken it upon herself to organize their wedding, and she was being thorough.  Very, very thorough.  Jonah hadn’t even known what a boutonniere was before yesterday.  “Wyl and Robbie are taking a mental health day for themselves and Miles has to work, so I thought we could take Cody into Rapture.  We haven’t been to the bazaar yet.”

                “Sounds like fun.”  They’d gone into Rapture several times in the past two weeks, but once was to a restaurant and the next was to a huge indoor mall, each time with a few plainclothes marines at their sides.  Paradise had settled considerably in the past year, but it could still be dangerous, and Miles wasn’t taking any chances with a member of his family.  Garrett seemed to enjoy the fact that the marines kept any gawkers at a distance, and was even more pleased that they hadn’t run into any Drifters in their wanderings.

                “It will be.  There are all sorts of stalls that offer everything from fresh eyes to cloned pets to body art.  By the way, tattoos?  I say Cody has to be at least twelve before his first one.”

                What?  “He wants a tattoo?” Jonah asked, nonplussed.  “Since when?”

                “Since he saw Robbie’s Devildog Squadron tattoo.  It’s a marine thing.  They’re easy to get removed,” Garrett added with a smile.  “A little iontophoresis and you’re good to go.  I got my whole body done for a party, once.  It took a while, but the result was worth it.”

                “The things you do for beauty.”

                “Fashion takes time,” Garrett agreed.  “So, shower, breakfast, bazaar.  Yes?”

                “Sure.”  And no tattoos for his kid, not even if they could be removed.  Not by twelve, either.  Maybe by twenty.  Maybe.

               

***

 

                They took a private car into the city, past the skyscrapers and flashy buildings and out toward the edge of downtown.  They had a pair of marines as escorts, again, but Garrett seemed to know one of them, and was enjoying himself by needling her.  “Thérèse, were you pining for me?” he asked coquettishly, tilting his head to one side and batting his eyelashes at her.  “Is this your way of asking for attention?”

                “No.”

                “So loquacious, darling, be sure you don’t hurt yourself lifting all those heavy words now.  And your partner is…”

                “Kelly,” the man driving them offered.  “Corporal Kelly, sir.”

                “Nice to meet you, Kelly.  Do you mind if I shorten it?”

                “Not at all, sir.”

                “Don’t encourage him,” Thérèse muttered.  Garrett laughed, and Jonah and Cody just looked at each other and shrugged.  Garrett got a huge kick out of bothering the marines, but as long as Cody didn’t start imitating him, Jonah didn’t mind.  Most of them thought it was more amusing than anything else.  Thérèse might be an exception, though.

                A few minutes later they were at the western edge of the bazaar, a market that encompassed about a square kilometer.  The rest of downtown was for Federation imports and elites; the bazaar was where you found the native Paradisians, rural traders and small time interstellar shippers.  It was a huge, teeming place, and more of a security risk than anywhere else in the capitol, but the city’s security forces as well as the marines were patrolling.  They should be safe enough.

                The hardest part about it wasn’t making their way through the crowd, which was bustling, but keeping Cody close.  Every time there was an explosion (and there were plenty of them, generally small ones that were brightly colored, some that shot sparks or holograms into the air) Cody wanted to go there, tugging out of Jonah’s grip almost every time.  Garrett was more proactive, and settled his grip onto the back of Cody’s collar.  That handhold slowed the kid down.

                By the fifth time, Jonah was getting tired of it.  He knelt down and looked sternly at Cody.  “Bucko, if you keep tryin’ to run around I’m just gonna pick you up and head back to the car.  I don’t want you gettin’ lost, okay?”

                “Sorry,” Cody said, staring abashedly down at the ground.  His feet were twitching, though.  “But can we go watch fire dancers, please?  Wyl told me all about them and he says they’re the best, and they’re really close, I saw the flames shoot up—”

                “Sure, we can go.”  Jonah straightened up and turned around, only to come face to face with a girl in green.  She had bright red hair tied back with a sash, and wore a long, heavy skirt.  Her face was round and her cheeks were pink, and Jonah knew her the moment he laid eyes on her.  She smiled broadly at him.

                “Mr. Helms!  Fancy meetin’ you all the way out here!”

                Jonah felt more than saw one of the marines move up behind him.  “Hello, Charlotte,” he said, keeping his voice pleasant and light.  The last thing he needed was for Garrett to get nervous and signal their escorts to do something rash.  “I’d heard the Gondola was in orbit.”

                “And you didn’t call?  Da will think you don’t like him,” she admonished.

                “Your da and I didn’t part on the best of terms.”

                “Oh, that’s nothin’ but old worries, Mr. Helms, for old days.”  She reached out to take his arm, and now one of the marines—Kelly—stepped up next to Jonah warningly.  She withdrew her hand but kept her smile.  “And that must be your boy, hmm?”  She turned her brightness on Cody.  “I’ve not seen you since you were a baby. You’ve grown so big!” 

                Cody looked a little confused, and Garrett kept a firm hand on his shoulder.  “Is there something you want?” he asked, his tone flat.  “Or were you just looking to interrupt our day together as a family?”

                “Not at all, sir,” and now Jonah winced internally, because “sir” was an insult among Drifters, “I’d never dream of interrupting you without a reason.  My da asked me to keep an eye out for Mr. Helms here, and to ask him to share a drink, for old times’ sake, if I saw him.  Our tent’s not far.”  She looked back at Jonah.  “As long as you can spare the time.”

                “Sure.”  Charlotte grinned and Garrett glared, and Jonah turned back to his fiance.  “This won’t take long,” he promised.  “You can go see the fire dancers and I’ll be with you in a couple minutes.”

                “Fine.  Take Kelly with you.”  Jonah started to protest and Garrett held up his free hand.  “It’s protocol for family members, Jonah.”  His face was unyielding, and Jonah finally nodded.  “Good.  Lovely to meet you, Miss Dechiara.”  He smiled politely at Charlotte, then turned and headed towards the dancers, Cody and Thérèse firmly in tow.  Jonah and Kelly were left with Charlotte, who turned and led them back through the crowd.

                Jonah smelled his destination before he saw it, a particularly harsh blend of tobacco that he knew Kilroy favored.  The whole of the Gondola had reeked with it.  And there Kilroy Dechiara was, sitting on a chair under a bright red canopy, an assortment of robotic parts laid out on a blanket on the ground beside him.  He was tall, like Jonah, broader through the shoulders and had the same red hair as his daughter.  He stood up as soon as he saw them.  “Jonah Helms!  Well, you’re a sight for sore eyes!”  He pulled Jonah into a rough embrace.  “Who’s your company, then?”

                “Corporal Kelly, with the Governor’s marine guard.”

                “Ah…so it’s true, then.”  Kilroy’s grin showed a few too many teeth.  “Charlotte, why don’t you take the corporal to have a drink over at Mindy’s?”

                “No thank you,” Corporal Kelly said immediately.  “I need to remain with Mr. Helms.”

                “Then perhaps you could do us the courtesy of givin’ us a little space?” Kilroy suggested quickly, not at all put off.  “Just a few extra yards, for a private conversation.  I’d be greatly obliged, sir.”

                Kelly waited for Jonah to give him a reluctant nod before letting Charlotte draw him a little ways off.  Kilroy motioned to the empty chair next to his, and they both sat down.  “I’ll be damned.  I’d heard you found a Federation man out on that colony of yours, I just didn’t know he was quite so important.  A member of the Governor’s family, no less.  Pretty too, ain’t he?  Man like that doesn’t have to work to live, I reckon.”

                “He’s a climatologist,” Jonah snapped, offended for Garrett’s sake.  “He doesn’t get by on his looks.  And if that’s the tenor of what you have to say to me, I’m gonna be going now.”

                “Slow down,” Kilroy said calmly, holding out his hands.  “I didn’t mean to upset you.  Lord knows you’ve got reason to want something different, after what your mama put you through.  I was just makin’ an observation.”  He poured two cups of grin out of a dented metal pot on a little table between them and set one down in front of Jonah.  “Proper brew.  Been awhile, huh?”

                Hell, it had been awhile.  Grin was a purely Drifter drink, a mélange of whatever happened to be in the stores, usually bad coffee, cocoa powder, old tea leaves and  berry crumbs and caffeine extract, if you had some.  The maxim was that you just had to grin and bear it when you drank, hence the name.  Jonah took a swallow, felt the lining of his throat start to tickle and had to cough.  Kilroy laughed.  “Can’t hold it anymore, boy?”

                “Only you would add juniper berries to grin,” Jonah said hoarsely.  “That’s terrible.”

                “Wakes you up in the morning, though.”  Kilroy swallowed his own cup down, then sighed with satisfaction.  “S’pose you wake up to coffee every morning now.”

                “I like coffee.”

                “An’ I like nekkid women, but you don’t see me indulgin’ in ‘em every day.  Honestly, boy, don’t you miss the old life even a little bit?  Or is it all smooth sailing with your pretty scientist?”

                “The old life didn’t want me and it didn’t want my son,” Jonah said firmly.  “If this is all you’ve got to talk to me about, I’m leavin’.”

                “It ain’t all.  But,” Kilroy grimaced now, “this ain’t exactly the spot for a real conversation.  What say you come back to my ship, and we talk there?”

                “Not gonna happen.  Come to the Mansion and we can talk there.”

                “Oh, I think not,” Kilroy chuckled.  “I think that’s a little rich for my tastes.  Let’s say a neutral location in the city, sometime next week?”

                “I could do that,” Jonah said cautiously.

                “Good, good.  I knew you wouldn’t turn your back on an old friend.”

                “You were always my mama’s friend, Kilroy, not mine,” Jonah said, and if there was a little regret in his voice, he tried not to let it show in his face.  “Talkin’ to me isn’t gonna get you in any better with her.  I haven’t spoken to her for over a year.”

                “I’m not here to bring up bygones,” Kilroy insisted.  “Let the past lie, s’what I say.  I’m interested in the future.  It’s hard days for Drifters now, even in the Fringe, and gettin’ harder every second.  I’m doin’ my part to keep our lifestyle alive.”  He glanced over at Kelly, who was ignoring Charlotte’s charms in favor of staring at both of them.  “And again, this ain’t the time.  Here.”  He handed over a slip of paper—actual paper, fuzzy at the edges—with a communication code written on it.  “This is my personal com.  Call me up and we’ll meet this week.  There’s plenty needs talkin’ about, Jonah.  Don’t let your new friends make you forget your old ones.”

                Jonah didn’t say anything, just took the worn piece of paper and tucked it into his pocket.  He finished off the grin, ignored Kilroy’s sudden smile and walked over to Kelly.  “We can go now.”

                “Yes, sir.”  As they turned away Jonah saw Charlotte’s eyes roll mockingly as she mouthed Yes, sir! at him.  He shook his head and walked towards the bright red flames that leapt into the sky.

                Garrett and Cody and Thérèse were there, standing at the edge of the crowd and watching the display.  Cody didn’t even notice when Jonah rejoined them, he was so entranced, but Garrett saw him coming and reached out a hand as he got close.  Despite the tension between them, his grip was warm and reassuring.  Jonah leaned in and kissed his cheek. 

                “Everything all right?” Garrett asked almost soundlessly.

                “Fine.  Tell you about it later.” 

Garrett searched Jonah’s face with an unusually intense gaze before he finally nodded.  Later, Jonah had the feeling, wasn’t going to be much fun.

Oh Cari...really?

So here I am editing together The Captain stories into one volume to make available to you guys...

Yay, right?  Fun story, my first every posted, I haven't read it for years, this is gonna be great!

Except then I get into the nuts and bolts, and...

Credit goes to http://gifforlife.tumblr.com/search/surprised

Oh my god, grammar, woman!  Punctuation!  Mother of God, did you not attend college?  Don't you know the difference between "to" and "too?"  Did you even read this before you posted it the first time? 

Which, of course, I did, but as this was my very first story to be publically posted anywhere, and I was a total noob, I didn't get it beta'd.  I should have.  Oy.  I'm finding it hard to resist the urge to restrict myself to only technical and not substantive rewrites.  Guess I just need to write another part.  Incidentally, there will be an epilogue of sorts added onto the end of the completed story.

Also...I have grown as a writer and a human being.  I know I need a beta.  Readerwife, prepare to be mobbed.  Any other interested parties, let me know.  I want this to be good before I pay for a cover and get my peeps to help me massage it into different file formats for public consumption.

Happy Tuesday, people.

Paradise Post #7

Notes: Moving on!  I wanted a Cody chapter here, so there isn’t as much development of heavy plot as there could be, but it’s still fun.  Things are percolating…

 

Title: Paradise

 

Part Seven: New Friends, Old Acquaintances

 

 

 

***

 

                Breakfast was a big meal here on Paradise.  Back home, Cody might eat with his dad or with Garrett, but not usually with both, ‘cause they had to get to work at different times.  Here though, everyone showed up.  Maybe they only did because it was a “special occasion,” like Claudia said, but everyone was there, even Miles and Robbie.  They probably made sure to come because the food was so amazing.  Cody got to have pancakes with chocolate, caramel and whip cream in them, all coated with bright purple syrup.  Dad’s pancakes were plain and Garrett just had coffee, which was weird because he usually ate some cereal or something, but he looked really tired, and kept staring down into his mug.  Cody patted him on the knee.

                “I think you need a nap.”

                Garrett raised one eyebrow.  Watching it drove Cody crazy, he had been trying to learn how to do that for months, but he still hadn’t figured it out.  “Really?”

                “Yes.  You look sleepy.”

                “Huh.”

                “You sound sleepy too.”

                “Out of the mouths of babes,” Wyl intoned as he made another espresso.  Cody frowned.

                “I’m not a baby,” he told Wyl.  “I’m seven.”

                “It’s meant to be taken as kind of a metaphor…” Wyl began, then sighed.  “Never mind.  Why are you so tired anyway, Gare?”

                “I had an early morning meeting.”

                Dad looked over at him.  “So that’s where you got off to last night.  Who were you meeting?”

                “He was with me.”  Robbie didn’t speak loudly, but everyone always stopped what they were doing and looked at him when he spoke out.  “I wanted to pass on some information I thought the two of you might find interesting.  The timing of the rendezvous, by the way, was completely Garrett’s idea.  I was all for sleeping through the night.”

                “Oh, traitor.”  Garrett threw his unused napkin, which he’d folded in the shape of a space ship, at Robbie’s chest.  “See if I ever lie for you again, Benedict Arnold.”

                Cody was completely confused by now.  “Who’s Benedict Arnold?”

                The table was quiet for a moment.  “He was a general on Old Earth,” Miles said at last.  “He tried to betray the army he was working for to the enemy.  His plot was foiled, but after that people started using his name to refer to traitors.”

                “Note the personal contiguity that I’ve tailored to you with the military nature of the reference,” Garrett added, his fingertips tapping out a rhythm on the tabletop. He didn’t seem to notice he was doing it. “I could have gone with Judas, or Brutus, but one was too religious and the other too political.”

                “I’d prefer to be compared to Guy Fawkes, if I had to choose,” Robbie said.

                “Well too bad, because traitors can’t be choosers.”

                “Mind telling me what the information is?” Dad finally interjected.

                Robbie stared at Garrett.  Garrett stared back, his fingers tapping faster and faster against the table.  Dad finally reached over and took his hand, stopping the rapid beat.  “Darlin’?”

                “Yes.  Right.  There’s a Drifter ship in orbit right above Rapture.”  Garrett said it fast, like he was spitting out words that didn’t taste good.  “They’ve been here for a while.”

                “What’s the name?”

                “Is it Grandma’s?” 

Cody and his dad spoke at the same time.  Cody thought it would be fun if it was his Grandma’s ship, he hadn’t seen her for…oh…he couldn’t even really remember the last time he’d seen her.  Everything that had happened in his life up to Pandora was kind of blended into one big Before.  The things he did remember were short, tight hallways that went up and up and over and under like ropes tied in a big knot, with rooms in strange places and bluish lights that flickered on and off.  There had been lots of other kids to play with, but lots of sharp edges, too. 

This one time when he’d been playing hide and seek, Cody had wedged himself into a crawlspace that went all the way back to the bulkhead.  It had been really cold back there, and he’d cut his shoulder scootching all the way in and hadn’t even realized it, because the metal was so frosty it made him numb.  None of the other kids found him, and Cody didn’t realize that they’d given up and the game was over until he heard his daddy shouting for him.  By then he was too cold and stiff to crawl back out.  They’d had to move parts of the ship to reach him, and Daddy hadn’t been happy when he’d found Cody injured.

“It’s called the Gondola,” Robbie said.  “The family name is Dechiara.”

“Kilroy,” his dad said thoughtfully. “I know him.  He usually does business out of the Triad cluster, though.  Strange for him to be here.”

“Strange how?” Robbie asked immediately.

“Strange in a way that’s none of our business, because we don’t care,” Garrett interjected.  He and Robbie stared at each other again.  Cody felt his shoulders tense up and didn’t know why.

“O-kay!” Wyl’s voice was a little too loud, but at least he got everyone’s attention. “I think I’ve had enough to eat. Cody, are you full?”

“Well…” Really, he could eat another pancake probably, but…Wyl probably wanted to do something fun.  “Yeah.  Why?”

“I thought now might be a good time to go for that hoverbike ride.  It’s not too awfully hot out there yet.”

“Yes!”  Cody slammed down his fork and kicked the chair back, ready to go.

“Ah, but—” Garrett held up a hand that stopped him.  “You’re supposed to start your lessons today.  If we get back to Pandora and you’re behind the class, your teacher will hang me up by my toes.”

“Miss Lowenstein just says that,” Cody reassured Garrett.  “But she never actually does it.  I mean, I’ve never seen her do it.”

“If anyone could drive her to it, it would be me,” Garrett said, but he was smiling now.  “Okay.  Or, it’s okay with me as long as you’re back by lunchtime, but you should ask your dad.”

“Fine with me, bucko.”  His dad ruffled his hair fondly.  Cody rolled his eyes and tried to smooth his curls back down.  “Have fun with Wyl. Be good.”

“I’m always good!”  Cody paused just long enough to kiss his dad’s cheek, then Garrett’s, before hopping onto the floor and heading out of the kitchen at Wyl’s heels.  “Where’s the bike?”

“It’s in the lot, in my personal parking space,” Wyl said, buzzing them through the connecting door between the mansion and the military base.  “It’s my favorite way to get around here.  Robbie likes tanks, but I think they lack subtlety.”
                “I’d like to ride in a tank!”

“I bet you would,” Wyl chuckled.

“I would be very careful if you let me drive it, too,” Cody continued, trying his Wide, Innocent Eyes Look on Wyl.  It got him what he wanted all the time with his dad and Garrett, but Wyl just smirked. 

“Nice try, Cody, but no.  Now.”  They stopped in an equipment room, where a bored-looking sat reading a magazine at a desk.  Behind him was a cage of some kind, with a glowing, filmy outline.  “Sergeant Powell.”

“Mr. Leyton.”

“I’d like to requisition a helmet for my friend here.  I had one ordered special a few months back.”

“I think we have something like that.”  The sergeant stood up and swiped his palm over a reader, then hummed low in his throat.  The glow vanished and he opened the door.  “Just a second.”  He went inside and Cody bounced anxiously on the balls of his feet.  When the man came back out with a shiny, nearly-transparent helmet that had the black Space Ranger emblazoned on top of it, Cody’s mouth fell open.

“Wow.”

“Your dad said you’d like this one,” Wyl grinned.  “Try it on.”

Cody shoved the helmet down over his head and pressed the loose strap to the other side.  The strap bonded to the helmet with an audible snap.  “You have to use a special tool to release it,” Wyl explained.  “It’s the safest version on the market right now.”

“Cool, can we go now?” Cody didn’t want to hear about how safe it was, he just wanted to go fast.

“I think your friend’s got an agenda,” the sergeant noted.

“I guess so.  C’mon, let’s head out.”

Cody didn’t pay attention to anything other than the weight of his sweet new helmet and how awesome it must look until they were in the lot, and Wyl’s bike was right there in front of them.  It was so much better than Cody had imagined. “You didn’t say it had lightning bolts!”

“How could it be perfect without lightning bolts?” Wyl replied.  He took his own helmet off the handlebars and put it on, then started up the bike, which rose to hover a few feet from the ground.  He lifted Cody onto the back of the bike, then swung his own leg over.  He revved the engine, which growled dramatically.  Cody shivered with excitement and wrapped his arms tight around Wyl’s waist.

“You ready?” Wyl shouted over the noise.

“Yes!”

They roared out of the lot and into the sun, and if Cody’s initial yell of joy was a little tempered by a momentary fear, well, Wyl would never tell anyone.

Where is it, my precious?!?

WHERE IS IT????

Don't worry, the next Paradise post should be up in, like, 12 hours.  Maybe less.  Cross my heart, hope to die, writhe on the ground in agony!

Omg, we're finally moving...

My fingers are trying to spontaneously curl forward thanks to three days spent schlepping boxes and furniture into our new house.  Everything that you remember as painful when you've moved yourself: arms, hands, back knees...yeah.  Feelin' that.  This is the first time in over three years that all of our belongings have been in the same place at one time.  I had no idea we owned so much crap.

On the plus side, I'm living in a great big beautiful house, I have access to my library again and I have carte blanche to walk around in the nude whenever I want (TMI?) because this house is in the mountains and we have no close neighbors and no housemates.  Freedom!!!  On the minus side, the contractor forgot to do a few things, like seal off the base of the shower, fix the electrical outlets in the bedroom, and ensure that the heat not only turns on, but that it turns off as well.  He refuses to fix such things until he talks to the owners of the newly refurbished house, who live in Germany and are working in Alsace for the next two weeks, rendering them unavailable.  So.  My own personal Mr. Fix-It is plotting ways around this obstructionism and I'm just trying to get internet installed.  If I'm mostly absent for the next few days, that's why.  It's surprisingly difficult to get certain amenities in the mountians.

I'll attach a picture of the new place when I can find my camera; so pretty!  In the meantime, I'll have more Paradise love up soon and will discuss my upcoming serial story.  Mmm...serial. 


And PS--hard labor has its perks!  A couple of boulders rolled onto our access road (yes, actual boulders, big rocks that weighed hundreds of pounds, this is where we live now) and it fell to us to move them with rock bars, break them up with sledge hammers and for me to ogle my man wielding said implements.  All this equals a free peepshow for me.  Gotta love it:)