#therealgchuwrites

“I’d forgotten what this was like,” Sam whispered, his head swiveling around attempting to take in the surroundings all at once through the limited field of view of the helmet. Min turned and saw his eyes wide and sparkling with wonder and excitement. They looked more like the warm blue eyes she remembered from her Sam. She grinned unreservedly at him, feeling the same wonder and excitement. He pointed to the towering peaks ahead, “Those have to be, what, at least ten kilometers high, right?”

“At least,” she responded, then pointed behind and to the right of him, “but look behind you.”

He turned to where she was pointing and saw a red rover with large knobby tires. It looked like an old Earth dune buggy. Vasco stood next to it with one of his metal hands laid atop the roll cage. He whipped his head back to Min, laughing, “Where the hell did you get that?!” he exclaimed, walking towards it.

“Just another one of my additions. Sometimes, boosting to places is a slow pain. Figure we can cover a lot more ground with this baby.”

Sam ran his hands along the frame, chuckling to himself. “Man, I haven’t driven one of these things in…oh god, last time I think I did was when I was about twenty.” He made a slow circle around the vehicle, “A buddy of mine had one. We used to take it out to the dunes southwest of Akila City.” He turned back to her with an embarrassed grin, “Man, the shenanigans we got up to. Thank god the rover was faster than the ashta. We were so stupid.”

“You’ll find this is definitely faster than any ashta. Vasco and I made some…modifications,” she said cryptically. “Vasco, wanna hop in?” The robot made no verbal response, but jumped into the back compartment and folded his legs under his body with his arms free to hold on to the cage. With his right hand, he tapped the roll cage as if signalling he was ready to go. Sam thought Vasco looked like a roosting chicken. “This way, he can help with watching our six, and carry more stuff back,” she announced proudly as she sat down in the driver’s seat.

Sam sat down in the passenger seat, but looked in askance at her, “I guess you’re driving, huh?”

“My rover, I drive,” she answered, powering it up, not looking at him.

“You do know how to drive it, don’t you?” he asked warily.

Min paused, her hands on the controls, staring straight ahead.

“Wait, have you ever driven anything other than a spaceship?”

“Shut up, I’m trying to decide where to go.” Her grip tightened on the controls as she looked about.

“Oh god, you haven’t, have you?” he asked, facepalming.

“You have hands to the right spot, Rook?” Vlad asked Cora, his head popping up from the other side of the console to make sure she was OK.

She grinned, “Aye, Captain!” she responded. She knew her dad would not approve of Vlad calling her Rook, but she thought it was pretty cool. Pirates were cool. She’d heard about the infamous Crimson Fleet and its King of the Pirates, Delgado, from some kids in her online classes. She asked Vlad about him, and Vlad told her that Delgado was just another captain when he left the Fleet. Well, what he actually said was, “Delgado was only another Fleet captain sailing the blackest sea in search of plunder.” It sounded much cooler when Vlad said things.

Once she tried speaking like Vlad, but her dad got annoyed. “I don’t want you talking like a pirate,” he told her. “You might get ideas in your head, or something,” he mumbled as he walked away. She rolled her eyes at him once his back was turned. She loved her dad more than anything in the universe, but boy, he could be such a stick-in-the-mud! Gramps had once said that her dad was a “reprobate” when he was young (she had to look that word up at the time), but she didn’t really believe Gramps. Dad never let her get away with anything! He even got annoyed at her if she didn’t always look both ways when crossing the street like she was still a little kid, so she had a hard time seeing her father as a “reprobate.” She loved Gramps almost as much as she loved her dad, but Gramps was the mud that her dad was stuck in. Maybe that’s why they didn’t get along.

Vlad gave the console a solid thwack, then stood and stretched his back. “You can come out of there now, Rook,” he called after checking the solder. “This is looking ship-shape with your help,” he said, clapping her on the shoulder after she stood up. Her knees almost buckled under the heavy thump of the old pirate’s hand, but she stood up straighter and taller. “You did a good job. Couldn’t have asked for a better deck-hand.”

Cora beamed under his praise. “Dad says I’m the best when it comes to stuff like this, because I have such small hands, and they’re strong,” she said.

“But I don’t feel like I’m in control. And, I bet I could get further if my body was more streamlined,” she answered.

“Well, Mars is a good place to try. Even if you fall from a decent height, you won’t hurt yourself too bad.”

“Can I come too?” Cora asked.

“Sure, I don’t see why not. Just don’t go too high,” he said.

The trio headed to a ridge about a half klick from the Cydonia landing pad, a gentle incline that was still high enough to get some height. “What did you have in mind?” Sam asked as they reached the peak.

Hwa cocked her head to the side, “Let’s try something out,” she said, and took a running jump. At the top of the arc, she hit the boost and went flying face-first, tumbling down the hill.

“Nice moves there, slick!” he shouted from the top, laughing.

“I meant to do that,” came a muffled response, Hwa face-down in the red sand.

He laughed, “I’m sure you did,” he said, then turned to Cora, “that there, that’s not what you’re supposed to do.” He took a quick leap and jumped down, with a quick boost to get to her faster. “You need some help?” he asked, extending his hand.

She rolled over and looked at him, “Ouch,” was all she said, but didn’t take his hand.

“Yep, you do need practice. Come on,” he said and grabbed her arm, hefting her up to a sitting position. “You wanna try that again?”

She pouted a bit, “Not really. That was not what was supposed to happen.”

“Really? You could’ve fooled me. Totally looked purposeful.”

“Bite me,” she responded petulantly, and started trudging up the hill.

Cora met her half way, “You OK, Captain?”

“Sweet pea, that is exactly what you’re not supposed to do!” he shouted at his daughter while giving Hwa a cheeky grin.

“I’m OK,” Hwa answered Cora, “just gotta recalibrate my calculations.”

“Only if you let me tame the xenos,” she answered back.

“You tame them, I’ll cook them,” he answered as he got up and headed to the galley. He returned with a couple bottles of beer and handed one to her. “I’m not getting down on the floor with you. There’s no way I’ll be able to get my butt off it again,” he said as he clinked his bottle with hers.

She was quiet for a couple minutes as she peered at him.

“What is it?” he asked.

She took a pull from her bottle, “You remind me of my brother,” she said softly, looking away.

“Oh, is he as good looking and charming as I am?” Barrett asked with his trademark grin. She looked up at him and upon seeing her face, immediately regretted his light tone. “I’m sorry. What happened?” he asked.

“He was killed when I was ten and he was twelve,” she answered after a moment. “He was…” she paused, looking down again, “he was the only family I had. We grew up…” she paused again, taking a deep breath before starting again, “let’s just say we grew up very badly.”

Barrett nodded, “I had guessed you had a rough childhood.”

She snorted derisively, “Yes, Sarah said the same thing. She said I wasn’t as clever as I thought at keeping my past secret.”

“No, it’s not that. It’s more like we all have our pasts and our own pain. And, pain recognizes pain,” he reassured her, his voice kind and gentle. “Do you want to tell me about it?”

She shook her head, “Not really. Sam knows. It’s hard to talk about.”

He nodded, “I get that, I really do. It took me years to process Ervin’s death. And some days, it still feels fresh.”

Hwa nodded, then was silent for several minutes trying to make up her mind about what she wanted to say. Being around Barrett was very different than being around Sam. He made her feel good in a different way. Like Seong did when he looked after her when their mother would disappear for days on end. He’d make her laugh, and they’d play games, and he kept her out of trouble. He was her big brother and her protector. He stood in the way when their mother went into her rages and took the beatings that were meant for her. And, once they got to the Syndicate, he still looked out after her even though he knew he didn’t have to anymore. 

Something finally occurred to her in her love-starved existence: love came in many different shapes and forms. She loved Sam with every fiber of her being. For her, the sun rose and set with him. But, that didn’t preclude loving other people. In the short weeks of traveling with the rest of Constellation, as she began to feel comfortable around them, a new emotion started surfacing. She looked at Barrett and realized that in the time they traveled together, she developed similar feelings towards him that she had for her big brother. She’d never want to replace Seong, but she certainly had space for another big brother.

“I grew up in the Seokguh Syndicate on Neon,” Hwa declaimed explosively. She’d been holding her breath debating whether to tell Barrett or not. Then, it all came tumbling out. “My mother sold us when I was seven,” and she proceeded to tell him her life’s story in short, quick sentences with no embellishment. Oddly enough, it was easier to tell Barrett than telling Sam, probably because she’d done it once already. She didn’t dare look at him all the while and was silent for several seconds after.

Barrett only nodded and patted her back. “Dusty,” he said softly, “it’s OK. Really, it is.” She finally looked up at him. “It does go a long way in explaining how you were so effective at Vectera for a miner,” he mused, then gave her one of his cocky grins. “But, not as good as me.”

She chuckled softly, “You wish,” she replied back.

She barked out a cynical laugh, “Are you fucking kidding me? Good life? Regrets? Jesus fuck! This was supposed to be the cosmic mystery of millennia, and instead it’s fucking therapy!” She unwound her legs to standing, “Regrets? You want a fucking list?” she shouted, getting within inches of the figure’s face, “how about that poor couple I was sent to murder when I was fifteen simply because their kid ran away. Then, there was that politician on Gagarin who wanted to try to unionize Ryujin. Oh, and let’s not forget about that guard whose throat I slit when I was ten! How the fuck do you like those regrets?!” She was screaming at the figure, tears streaming freely from her face. “My whole life until a year ago was nothing but regret, you stupid fuck! FUCK YOU!” she screamed, and collapsed to her knees, sobbing violently. “I must be dead, and this is hell,” she said, through her tears.

The figure stared down impassively at Hwa, “Do you feel dead? You are energy, and energy cannot be destroyed.”