New Beginnings
26 Sep 2019Falcon15e
When Lambast got back to the settlement and Kai had found out where she had been, she was inconsolable. Kaisla’s moods swung from grief to rage to jealousy. She felt betrayed and frustrated at Lambast. “How could you do it?! We were in this together and you went by yourself and just killed him!”
Lambast was upset at how Kaisla was reacting but she expected it. “You had done all the dirty work up until this point, I did this for you! It’s done! It’s over!”
Kaisla collapsed into Lamb’s arms, crying. “I know, I know, I just feel like I didn’t help finish it.”
Lamb held her, stroking her hair, “But you did. You got us this far. I felt like it was my duty to get us the rest of the way. I needed it.”
Johnston arrived a few days later and made an official closure of the case. Lambast’s parents were shocked but he covered his visit by saying he was there to inform them that Kai’s parents’ murder was captured and executed. After the official announcement was made, Johnston joined the two girls in Lamb’s room.
“Captain Johnston, congratulations on your promotion.” Lamb says sitting down on the edge of her bed.
“Thanks, I guess. Now that the official stuff is over, Adele wanted me to bring these to you.” He passes over two untraceable FOB’s giving the girls access to withdraw their payment from Adele.
“She wanted me to say that her offer is still open - she’s willing to offer the both of you any position you want. She said neither of you would ever have to want for anything at Cleve if you needed it. Additionally, the FIS wrapped up their investigation and the feds have vacated. They could not ascertain enough evidence to hold the case. They’re going to hold it open in case evidence surfaces later but nobody is assigned to it any longer.”
Kai was sitting in the corner, arms wrapped around herself. “Yeah, no thanks. I don’t want anything to do with those people.”
Johnston looks over to her. “I have a surprise for you.”
Kai looks up to him, “It’s not a set of handcuffs is it?”
Johnston laughs and produces a FOB and small envelope from his pocket. “Ha, ha, no...here.” He tosses the FOB and envelope over to her. She pry’s the envelope open.
“It’s the deed to my father’s Sidewinder?” A tear rolls down her cheek.
“Yeah, I purchased it from the bank and made the payments until this whole thing wrapped up. Now, with Adele’s little gift, you can finish off the payments but I didn’t want it being sold off in auction.”
Kai rushes across the room and embraces him in a fierce hug. He topples backward and laughs, rubbing her back. “Okay, okay, enough. It’s not a big deal.”
Kai buries her face into his shoulder, “No, it means more than you could ever imagine. I don’t know how to thank you.”
He leans back and looks into her eyes, “Just..make me a promise, no more extracurricular activities around my station now that I’m the security chief, okay?”
Kai chokes back a laugh, “Promise.”
“So what are you girls going to do now?” He sits back and crosses his arms.
Lambast smiles, “I’ve been accepted to the Imperial Academy. I leave in two weeks. Its an eight year commitment. I’ll do four in my formal education and commission and then do another four. Hopefully, it will be enough of this space flying for awhile. Leave all this stuff behind. My father wants me to follow in his foot steps and take up being a settlement councilor but that’s not for me.”
Kai resumes her seat in the corner, knees up to her chest. “I’m not sure what I’m going to do. I was never been a really good farmer. I was thinking of running cargo or taking that money and setting up a small company helping out the local farmers, y’know, running harvest to and from stations for them. I would only charge if they got what they estimated from the harvest.”
Johnston laughs, “In open space lanes? Then please, stay away from agricultural stations!”
Kai laughs, “No, no crazy flying.”
Johnston stands to leave, “That will be the day, Kaisla Delana, space trucker, no crazy flying!”
** 6 months later **
Lambast shipped off to the Imperial Academy. She ferreted away a bit of her reward for herself but had donated the rest to local farmers co-op’s and setup a fund for the farmers of Eravate Two so that they could buy new equipment and float them in years of inadequate harvests. An anonymous donor also had two memorials erected. One sitting over the Astro family farm and another over the Delana estate. The donor had commissioned an artist to mold a beautiful statue of Astro and his parents. The Delana estate was a simple spire lacking names or details. Just a simple inscription: “It is said the greatest folly of man is love, but in reality, love is what makes life worth living.” Nobody would farm those lands again.
Kaisla climbed into the cockpit of the little Sidewinder. She had just gotten it out of dry dock after some upgrade modifications and outfitting for cargo. Looking around the dark cockpit, she ran her hand along the console and thought back to the last time she had been in there, where her father had sat, the last conversation they had and shed a silent tear. She recalled her and Astro also sitting in the little ship, just kids dreaming about their futures. She pulled the little cow bobble head from her jacket and stuck it to the dash, its goofy grin bobbing up and down. Next to it, a resin mold of a small wooden chest with hundreds of little feet, flashing a toothy grin smiled up at her. Inside of the little resin chest, a hand written note from Lamb is secured safely inside.
“Otto?” She calls out in the dark cockpit.
The screens and interfaces light up, glowing orange. “Commander, COVAS is online.”
“Take us out.”
“Aye Commander.”