Aftermath - Ann Aguirre [115]
Now, that’s good news. I ignore a couple of messages from Tarn and delete them. The rest of my messages are from March and Dina, kind of a log of their search. From the tone they take toward the end, I suspect they didn’t think they’d see me again. I watch the ones from March four times before deciding I’m being maudlin.
It’s funny.
I was missing five turns, and March never reported me dead to claim my assets. My ex-husband, Simon, did so within a matter of days, and I had far fewer credits in the bank then. But in my absence, the wrongful-death claims have been piling up. Vel pays them while we’re waiting for Hon and Loras to arrive on world.
A wicked melancholy has fallen on him since we returned, and I know why. He has such memories here, a whole other life within the dome, and it is over now, that chapter closed for all time. And I am not Adele; I lack her patience, her kindness, and her sweetness.
For so long, I focused on getting back to our world, only to return and find it’s reshaped itself in my absence. I don’t doubt March still loves me, but I fear there might not be room for me in the new life he’s built. Fortunately, after I emerge from my room, the others don’t give me time to dwell on my fears. Hit and Dina keep me busy showing Zeeka the sights. I’ll take him with me to La’heng and start training him as I did Argus. I’ve learned from my mistakes, though, and I’m not doing it without having Carvati run a complete medical panel on him to see where he stands on the longevity chart.
We do that while we’re waiting for the Dauntless.
Fortunately, Zeeka is a good candidate. “Maybe one of the best I’ve ever seen,” Carvati says.
The young Mareq swells with pride. Literally. His chest and throat puff with air, and his wide mouth gapes in his version of a smile. Yeah, he’s happy to hear it.
“I will sail the stars, just like Jax Oonan,” he croaks.
“Just Jax is fine.” I prefer he doesn’t call me that. Vel and I know I haven’t earned that title, and I’d like to forget everything we went through.
Well, maybe not everything. I wouldn’t rescind my request for Vel to wear my colors. Odd that he hasn’t brought it up. We could probably get it taken care of here. Gehenna offers just about every vice known to man.
Zeeka stays with Dr. Carvati to get his universal chip and the vocalizer to utilize it. He’s such a bold, bright spirit that he doesn’t even seem afraid although the technology seems magical to him. Deep down, I have some doubts about him as a jumper because he doesn’t understand this life. He’s just constantly amazed by everything. But maybe a jolt of his wonder and innocence is just what this jaded galaxy needs. I’m done trying to decide what’s best for other people; if his mother acknowledged him as a “sovereign being” and let him go off into the unknown, then who I am to deny his dream?
A week after my bounce, I get a reply from Loras. “We’ll be there in two days.”
Of course, this message is already two days old. Which means I can expect them anytime now . . . and I’m excited. I haven’t seen either Hon or Loras since before my incarceration—frag, not since the Battle of Venice Minor. Even then, I didn’t see them on the way to my trial.
Four hours later, my personal comm beeps. “Jax.”
Hon’s dark, smiling face appears on my wrist. He’s grown his pirate braids back but replaced his gold teeth with circumspect white. “I brought you a willing La’heng test subject. Where should I deliver him?”
“Frag you,” I hear Loras mutter.
“We’re staying at a place called Mikhail’s, near the market. If you want to drop your things here, we can proceed directly to Carvati’s clinic. I know he’s eager to get going.”
“As am I,” Loras says.
At last, everything feels like it’s coming together. Zeeka should be recovered from his minor elective surgery when we present ourselves for Loras’s treatment.