Guelph Station—old, beat up, and boring—never looked so good. Lenny sat in the jump seat behind his brother and parents. His mom insisted he be in the cockpit while they waited for docking. He knew that meant he was in for a severe dressing-down, SOF style.
His dad shot him a look, as if to say there was nothing he could do to save Lenny from what was about to follow. Daniella always outranked him in the service, and that hadn’t changed on the Eumenides.
“I would say you’re going soft, but this is just like you.” Daniella Pope fired off her first salvo. “Pretty brown eyes and perfect brown skin to match do not make her your girlfriend, Lenny. Also doesn’t make you a hero!”
He glanced at his brother for support. Morgan averted his gaze and shrugged—like he always did when they were growing up and their mother lit off on them.
“Mom, come on, I don’t think that.” Lenny decided the best defense was offense. Daniella had no time for cowards. “She’s alone and can’t remember a thing. What sort of piece of shit would I be if I didn’t help her? You didn’t raise us like that.”
Daniella pressed her lips together and shook her head. “I understand dating options out here on Guelph Station are not exactly great, but think with your head, not your dick.”
Morgan mouthed wow where she couldn’t see and then stifled laughter.
William shook his head. “Come on, Dan. Lenny isn’t stupid. He’s something else—kind.”
She spun on him. “That’s even worse. Kind will get you killed. We both know that—seen it plenty in the SOF!”
This bore all the signs of turning into a full-blown throwdown with everyone jumping in. Old arguments were going to rise to the surface, and the Eumenides would ring with shouts. Guelph Station might be within sight, but it wasn’t like Lenny could jump across right now.
He didn’t want this to go sideways into a Pope special. Their family got on pretty well—most of the time. On occasion, they devolved into finger pointing, dredging up past disagreements and beating each other over the head with them. He hated those moments and definitely did not want their passenger to witness one. Not in her condition.
So Lenny lurched to his feet and held his hands up in surrender. “Okay, everyone, just calm down, please! We’re coming into the dock. I promise you I’m going to help our passenger get herself sorted with station security and that’s it.”
His family stopped yelling at each other and focused on him. That wasn’t exactly his plan. His mother’s twisted lips said she didn’t believe a thing. His father’s raised eyebrows suggested he was hopeful, but also doubtful. Morgan’s shoulders shook as he suppressed his outright laughter.
A surge of annoyance in Lenny’s belly propelled out the words, “I mean, that’s it!”
Daniella’s eyes narrowed, but she spun her chair around and punched buttons on the control panel. “Alright then. Now buckle up, everyone. Let’s dock quick, and take some bets on whether Lenny can keep his word.”
The family sat in silence as they drew near to the station. Guelph showed her age at every seam. Carbonization on the lower half of her circular surface was a reminder of a scary few hours. The station chief, half a decade back, let her ass drag too low in the atmosphere. He’d been the worst of the cost-cutting idiots sent by the Combine. Neglected maintenance on the station’s stabilization units almost caused it to burn up and crash on the planet. By some miracle, they’d pulled it back. Still, the old girl had little run time left in her—something he chose not to point out to Mae. Guelph was already old when they’d towed her to this backwater. Still, Lenny considered her home. At least there was more personal space for the family on station than the challenging confines of the Eumenides.
As they waited for final clearance to the dock, Lenny counted the ships. Lola, Caliente, Enoki, Furball—these were familiar to him, run by families just as dysfunctional and trapped as his own.
However, as Guelph rotated further, the Popes all leaned forward.
“What is… what is that?” Morgan asked, pointing unnecessarily at the strange vessel they were all staring at.
It wasn’t any military type that Lenny recognized, and was too big for the private dock where the rich kept their pleasure craft. Despite his dislike of space, he found the ships that traveled it endlessly fascinating. He’d grown up cobbling together models of every kind. Everything from the CY78.3 Affiance Class to the USS Sulaco adorned his tiny cubby in the family’s accommodations on Guelph. This one didn’t appear in any vid he’d seen.
Unlike most of the working vessels, she was streamlined. The long, tapered bow suggested that she flew in the atmosphere, but she didn’t bear any military or corporate logos or other identifying marks. However, her name was emblazoned on the side.
“Ariadne,” Lenny read out. “She looks fast and new.”
His mother and father shared a look, and it wasn’t a parental one. Most of the time, it was impossible for him to imagine them fighting side by side across hostile planets and engaging in ship-to-ship combat. Yet sometimes, there was a glance they shared. It was a look to confirm that they each had the other’s back. Lenny had witnessed it only a few times, in dangerous situations.
Something about this vessel docked at Guelph triggered that glance.
“Too late to go elsewhere now. Not enough fuel.” Daniella tried to make it seem like a joke, but the tone of her voice was off.
As if on cue, Guelph Station broke through. “Eumenides, you are cleared for approach. Dock 12.”
The flight deck fell silent as Daniella guided in her family and her vessel as instructed. Lenny wondered why his throat grew suddenly tight. His gaze darted to the weapons locker at his mother’s feet. He’d only seen in there once. It contained all the relics of his parents’ past glories, including pulse rifles and armor.
His mom’s toe tapped it in a little rhythm. Nervous? He’d never seen her like that.
As they glided into position, he couldn’t keep his eyes off the strange ship. He watched it until the bulk of the dock got in the way. The Ariadne, whoever she belonged to, rested in the berth directly opposite. Dock 6.
They waited in silence until deck control attached the docking clamp. The clunk had always excited Lenny in the past. Now it implied something vaguely ominous.
“Docking complete, Eumenides. Welcome to Guelph Station.”
Lenny undid his seat belt and slid out of his seat before anyone could stop him. Mae still sat on the jump seat in the canteen, staring out the window, except now there was nothing to see but the beat-up, gray hull of Lola.
When she glanced back at Lenny, her eyes grew wide. He couldn’t imagine what not knowing who you were was like, but he guessed it must be terrifying.
“Come on.” He held out his hand and smiled as calmly as he could manage.
After a second, she took it and got to her feet. Her hand was warm, and Lenny admitted to himself that his mother wasn’t completely wrong. Guelph Station possessed few dating options for a young man, and Mae was a beautiful young woman. It surprised him that Morgan didn’t make a move on her, but then again, he’d somehow found a boyfriend and a girlfriend on the station already.
Daniella appeared from the cockpit, but before she could open her mouth, Mae interrupted. She couldn’t possibly have comprehended how dangerous that move was, but her voice came out soft and calm.
“I’m so sorry for the inconvenience I’ve caused. Please understand, I will sign over the salvage rights to you. I hope this comes close to making up for your loss of time and money.”
Lenny knew better than to get between the two women. Sometimes it was better to sit back and observe where the chips fell—especially when it came to his mother.
Daniella nodded. “You didn’t plan any of this, Mae. No one would choose to be out there floating in the dark. It’s the rule of spacers to help each other in such a situation.” She waved her hand. “Now, Lenny, get her signed in with Guelph and then straight after that, medical bay, right? No detours, okay?”
Lenny grinned. “Sure thing. On it.” As he darted away with Mae in tow, he glanced back only once. Daniella was already talking to her husband in a low tone. That always meant trouble.
Lenny was not sticking around to find out what that might be about. He grabbed the bag he always kept packed for station time and hurried down the docking ramp.
Mae followed him slowly, taking it all in. Not that there was much of Guelph to enjoy. The UPP and the Combine kept hundreds of these small stations spinning out in the farthest reaches of the galaxy. They remained under-funded and under-repaired. Almost all the ships that docked here were family concerns. Occasionally, one miraculously struck it rich and moved to the easier parts of the galaxy like New Eden.
The way Mae looked around, though, suggested she’d never seen any kind of station before. Her gaze eventually fixed on the other, stranger ship in the dock.
“Don’t worry about that.” Lenny flicked his hand dismissively. “It’s probably some UPP military vessel. They dock out here for a refill and supply. Drink everything at Stacey’s Bar and cause a bit of trouble. We’ll steer clear of them. Come on.”
Mae kept pace with him and remained silent. Lenny wondered if he should walk closer to make her feel safer, though that might only disturb her more.
“The medical bay is on level ten. The Combine covers basic meds, but if you’re military, they’ll do the whole—”
“No.” Mae stopped in her tracks, halfway along the dock. “I’m not going there.”
The firmness in her voice brought Lenny up short. A couple of workers, Hernan Perez and Alexis Baranov, waved to him from their ship, the Furball. Perez, a nosey kid about his age, sized up Mae behind her back.
Lenny tried not to get distracted by the faces of his friends. He stepped closer to talk a little quieter. “You can’t tell how long you were in that freezer, and something busted it up pretty bad. You should go get a full scan, and they could have you in their records, too.”
“No.” Mae crossed her arms. “I’m fine.”
Perez and Baranov conversed with each other, and Lenny feared they might try to join this awkward discussion. He put his hand under Mae’s elbow. “You can’t know that. Come on, the scan is free. They do them for all workers to monitor the radiation.”
He understood now how his mom felt when he backtalked her as an idiot kid. However, he’d never dared try what Mae did next. As Lenny applied the faintest pressure to get her to move, she did, but not how he’d expected.
Wrapping her fingers around his, she jerked his grip off her, spun him around, and in an instant had him gasping in a wristlock. She held his hand at a painful angle while his knee banged against the metal deck.
Even at this distance, his friends’ gasps and oh shits reached him. Lenny flushed, angry at himself and at her for showing him up in front of Perez and Baranov.
“I don’t want anyone monitoring me,” Mae said in an angry hiss. It almost didn’t sound like her voice at all.
“Alright, your choice. I’m sorry. We don’t have to go.”
She glared down at him for a moment, and then the expression faded away. “No, no, I’m sorry.” She helped him to his feet.
Lenny attempted to shake off his embarrassment that she’d knocked him flat on his ass so easily. “Nah, it’s fine. Come on, if you don’t wanna go to the medical bay, maybe I can just show you around? You might recognize something. Kick a memory loose?”
Mae pressed one hand to her head. “I don’t know this place—but—” She frowned. “I get flashes sometimes, but I can’t hold on to them long enough to understand what they are—but I think there was a space station in them. It’s hard to tell if it was this one.”
“There you go! Maybe old Guelph was your last port of call. Let’s go to the galleria. It ain’t the prettiest, but you’d remember Cal’s fried chicken. Best thing about the place.” He waved off his two friends and led her out of the docking bay.
To call Guelph utilitarian was an understatement. Everything, including the paint job, was as cheap as possible. The surplus green they’d used on the walls didn’t improve anyone’s mental health. He wanted to show Mae his family’s quarters, which they’d dressed up with some extravagant blue paint and decorated with pictures of distant Earth’s most beautiful landscapes. His father was a skilled craftsman, and he liked to use his talents in the living area. It was as homey as anyone got, this far out. But Cal’s Chicken Joint seemed like a good place to take her. Everyone ate there—mostly because everywhere else was shit.
“You know, people go loopy in isolation,” he said, attempting to get Mae to open up. “The first travelers of the Long Dark couldn’t cope without grass and birds to look at. That’s why they built the galleria, and why so many people have cats and dogs on ships.”
Mae cocked her head. “I don’t—are you trying to imply I am mentally impaired?”
Lenny wasn’t about to suggest that she needed a cat. She’d easily knocked him off his feet with no real effort. Somewhere in that past she didn’t remember, there had to be some kind of military training. He understood enough about that from his parents. Sometimes a word or situation triggered an unexpected reaction. One time, he’d stumbled upon his mom weeping in a corner of the flight deck. It was something Morgan said about his friends that dropped her back into a combat situation where she’d lost a bunch of them.
Whatever Mae had experienced, it didn’t seem to matter whether she recalled it or not. Lenny had never experienced a minefield, but he understood the concept well enough.
“Nope. No more than my own folks are. Trauma can be a beast.” He kept his gaze locked with hers, but his expression was as unthreatening as possible. “It doesn’t make you broken; it only proves you’re human.”
Mae let out a strangled breath, and then another, deeper one. “I’m sorry. This is all—well, it’s confusing.”
“I can’t imagine.” Lenny jerked his head towards the elevator. “If you don’t want to go, that’s fine, too.”
“No. I think—weirdly, I think I do.”
They took the elevator up three levels to the galleria. Lenny watched her face closely as they stepped out. Her expression fluttered from hopeful to disappointed.
Lenny tried to see it through her eyes. The walls were that same green color as the corridors. People from the mining ships sat scattered around at mismatched chairs and tables, eating and chatting. A couple of kids chased each other in front of the grimy window looking out planet-side. Plastic plants in tubs and wobbly maintenance droids were ineffective at improving the ambience or cleaning the floors. Still, the sign above Cal’s gleamed with blue light, offering ‘Chicken from Momma’s Kitchen’.
“Told you it wasn’t much.” Lenny shoved his hands into his pockets.
“It’s not bad, it’s just not what I was expecting.” Mae frowned. “Then, I don’t really know what that was, either.”
Lenny decided moving her along was better than letting her dwell on whatever void was inside her mind. They strolled over to Cal’s, and he ordered them some buttermilk chicken.
While they waited, Lenny tried to lighten the mood.
“Even Cal couldn’t make the ingredients available this far out, so no one asks what the ‘chicken’ is.”
Mae smiled back. “I’ve got nothing to compare it to, anyway.”
Cal appeared from out the back with the plastic basket of chicken. He was a tall, thin man who claimed to be from Spain, but his accent was as authentic as the buttermilk. He glared once at them before handing it over. Lenny’s comment must have reached him.
Sitting down at a rickety table, Lenny watched as Mae took her first bite. Her expression reflected delight this time.
“It’s crunchy, and salty, and a tiny bit sweet.”
Observing her enjoyment made Lenny feel like he’d at least done something good for her. He tucked into his chicken as well.
When a maintenance droid bumped against their table, he assumed it was just another of its faults. He pushed it away with his foot, but it came back. This time, it bounced off his leg. Lenny smiled at Mae while fighting the urge to punt the thing across the promenade.
She stared down at it for a moment, and it swiveled to stare back at her.
That was when he spotted the sticker slapped on its back. ‘Pelorus Jack Systems.’
“I’m an idiot,” he said. “If you don’t want to be in the medical system, then Pelorus can help.”
Mae went still. “Who is this Pelorus?”
Lenny chose his next words carefully. His friend was a lot of things, and none of them exactly legal. “He might be the only one on the station who can help—without putting you on the Combine’s radar.”
“I like the sound of him already.”
How the two of them would get on was another question. Pelorus was unusual and occasionally dangerous. Then again, so was Mae. Perhaps they would bond over that shared experience.
When he glanced over to tell Mae that, she was leaning back in the chair, her eyes unfocused.
“Mae? Mae?” Lenny took her hand. It was warm, but limp.
Her eyes darted back and forth under half-shut lids as she muttered something unintelligible. Lenny considered alerting station security, but something about her fear stopped him. Instead, he moved closer and put his hand around her shoulder so people wouldn’t notice her as much.
Trusting her, Lenny waited for Mae to come back.