Avalon

CHAPTER 06

SILENCE GREETED JETH AS HE STEPPED ONTO AVALON. He wasn’t surprised to see that none of the others had made it back yet. He went to the galley and quickly gathered some food, stowing it in a small satchel. Then he returned to the recessed bench.

The beggar was gone. Jeth wondered if the Brethren had discovered him after all. He doubted the man had been strong enough to leave on his own.

Jeth returned to Avalon, his heart heavy with regret. Not that he could’ve done anything differently to help the man, but the truth offered poor consolation.

Soon, he thought. Soon I will be someone else, living a different life from this one. He paused in front of the door into Avalon and placed his hand against the cool, smooth metal of the ship’s hull. His journey into that new life would start tomorrow. No matter what Hammer planned.

With his determination solidifying inside him, Jeth stepped aboard Avalon.

Dim lights lining the corridor floor punctuated the darkness as Jeth passed the row of crew cabins on the way to his own. When he saw that the door to Milton’s cabin was open, Jeth stopped and looked inside. It was never a good sign to see the door open. Most nights, his uncle locked himself in as a way to guarantee that no one would bother him until he was ready to be up. He was so serious about this he would fasten an actual metal lock on the door’s handle when he turned in.

But tonight Milton was lying in an awkward heap on the bed. Jeth reckoned he had probably passed out, given all the empty bottles lying around. Milton’s drinking always worsened whenever Jeth and the others were away on a job. Milton might be his guardian legally, but in reality it was more the other way around. Ever since Jeth’s mother had died, Milton had stopped caring about everything except drinking, and for a time, when he could still afford it, gambling. Jeth’s mom had been Milton’s younger sister, although a good twenty years separated them. Still, every time Jeth looked at him, he couldn’t help but remember the uncle from before, the man who wasn’t broken, but who laughed often and handed out sweets and who always had time to play with his niece and nephew.

Sighing, Jeth stepped into the room and rearranged Milton’s limbs into a more comfortable position. He needed his uncle sober and in as good a mood as possible tomorrow morning when he broached the subject of the Belgrave job. Milton’s presence would make the crew happier. They respected him in a way they probably never respected their own parents. Milton never told them what to do or tried to get them to behave in any particular way. But Jeth knew his uncle could easily opt to stay on Peltraz, checking into a comfortable hotel while they were away.

When he finished, Jeth tossed a sheet over Milton and closed the door. Then he went to his cabin, where he spent the rest of the night in fitful sleep, his unconscious mind alive with dreams about what the future would hold.

As Jeth emerged from his room the next morning and made his way down to the galley, he heard the happy sounds of chatter and plates clanging. He grinned at his luck. It seemed everybody was home and in a good mood. It would make getting them to swallow the news about the Belgrave job easier. He suspected at least some of them might not have made it to bed yet. Quickening his pace, Jeth trotted down the steps from the passenger deck to the common area below.

Something yellow and furry scurried into his path. He lurched sideways to avoid it, but the furry thing hissed as Jeth stepped on its tail. He lost his balance and skidded down the last few steps on his bottom, taking the creature with him as he flung out an arm to brace himself. It dug its claws into his hand as they came to a stop, and then it scurried up the stairs and disappeared around the corner.

“Lizzie!” Jeth yelled, picking himself up. He glanced down at his stinging right hand and the three shallow—though still blood-speckled—claw marks running down from his knuckles.

The noise in the galley ceased, and Lizzie’s face appeared in the doorway. “Problem, Jethro?”

“Yes, there’s a problem,” he said, striding into the common room. “Why the hell is there some animal running loose on my ship?”

Lizzie grinned. “You met Viggo already?”

Dear God, she’s already named it. “Who is Viggo?”

Her grin broadened, and she began twirling the end of her brassy-brown hair around a finger. “Just a kitty I picked up last night off One-Eyed Johnson.”

Jeth closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He was going to kill her. “You went to One-Eye’s last night? Wait, don’t answer that.” He took another breath and focused on the worst of her offenses. “You brought home a cat?”

“No, I brought home a kitty.” She strolled through the galley door and walked over, stopping right in front of Jeth. She stared up at him, her green eyes wide and her enthusiasm electrifying. “A really cute, fuzzy, adorable kitty, who’ll bring us lots of laughs and fun and love and will really brighten up the place.”

Jeth’s lips twitched as he held back a smile. Lizzie knew how to play the adorable card. “Oh sure, fun and lovable.” He waved his injured hand in front of her face. “I thought I told you no pets.”

Completely unconcerned about the scratches, she feigned surprise. “Did you? I sure don’t remember you saying that.”

“Uh-huh. Well, now I’m saying that if you brought a cat on board, you need to keep the mangy thing confined to your cabin.”

A pout spread across Lizzie’s face. “Viggo is not mangy.”

“He looks it.”

She grinned. “Well, so do you most times, but we don’t keep you confined in your cabin.”

“Is that so?”

“Yep. You need a haircut.”

Jeth brushed his fingers through his hair, which was a darker shade of auburn than Lizzie’s. It was a little long, maybe, but definitely not mangy. “Huh, well, maybe so, but my point is, try to keep that thing from killing me, okay?”

“Yes, Boss.” Lizzie saluted him and clicked her heels together. “Will do, Boss.”

“No respect,” Jeth mumbled as he walked past her and into the galley. The rest of the crew sat crammed around the table in the small room, and they looked up at him with varying degrees of amusement on their faces. All except for Milton, who was bleary-eyed and cradling a cup of coffee beneath his lips, breathing in the steam. Milton’s once-brown hair was mostly gray, and his short-trimmed beard and mustache were white in places. His lingering hangover emphasized the cavernous wrinkles covering his face.

Walking over to the sink, Jeth said, “What’re you all smiling about?”

Flynn snickered. “Heard you had an encounter with a vicious man-eating kitten out in the hallway.”

Jeth looked at him, widening his eyes. “Have you seen that thing? It’s all hairy and it’s got claws and stuff.” He held up his hand as evidence. Like Lizzie, the crew didn’t seem impressed.

Shady, half choking on a bit of food, pounded his chest and said, “Damn straight. That thing’s ferocious. Are you okay, Boss? Need the doc to take a look at those battle wounds?”

Milton blinked, then lowered his cup. “Yes,” he said, his gravelly voice deadpan. “We could head to sick bay right now for an examination.”

Relieved to find Milton in a good enough mood to joke, Jeth grunted. “I doubt I can afford your rates.”

Milton gave a noncommittal shrug.

Once he finished rinsing the scratches, Jeth crossed to the counter and scooped helpings of imitation bacon and eggs onto a plate, trying not to think about the beggar from yesterday. Flynn must be in a good mood, to have cooked for everybody. Jeth’s mind began to buzz. Everything seemed to be falling into place.

He carried the plate back to the table and sat next to Lizzie, who’d come in behind him and had resumed eating.

“So, did everyone have a good night?” Jeth asked.

A clang echoed around the room as Shady dropped his fork onto his plate. “Uh-oh.”

Jeth glanced at him. “What?”

Shady’s eyes narrowed. “You’re going to drop something heavy on us, aren’t you, Boss?”

“Oh, yeah he is,” Celeste said from the other side of the table. The short ponytail she wore this morning swished back and forth as she bobbed her head.

Jeth frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“Come on, Jethro,” Lizzie said. “Everybody knows the only time you ask questions like that is when you’re setting us up for bad news.”

“Yep,” said Shady, “Like the time you told us we had to get vaccinated for the Feria job. My ass still hurts from those shots.”

“Please spare us references to your ass,” said Celeste.

“That wasn’t my fault,” said Jeth, trying to look indignant. “That was Hammer.”

“Or,” said Flynn, “like the time you said we had to climb down the sewage duct to snatch that giant ruby on Grakkus.”

“Now hang on a minute. That wasn’t everybody,” said Jeth.

“You’re right,” said Flynn. “It was just me.”

“It’s not my fault you’re so agile.” Jeth eyed him askance. Flynn had an unnatural ability for getting into hard-to-reach places like the inside of a ship’s engine. It came in handy more often than you’d think.

Flynn scoffed. “So is Lizzie, but you’d never have made her climb down that funky-smelling thing.”

“That’s because I’m a girl, and he likes me better,” said Lizzie.

“Jury’s still out on that,” Jeth said, motioning to his scratched hand.

At the far end of the table, Milton cleared his throat. That was all it took for the crew to fall silent. “What’s the job?” Milton asked, before taking a sip of his coffee.

Jeth considered sugarcoating his answer, but there really wasn’t a way to do it. “We’re going into the Belgrave.”

“What?” said Flynn, his indignant tone becoming serious. “But ships that go in there never come out again.”

“Not every ship,” said Lizzie.

“Yeah, but those that do talk about malfunctioning equipment and strange stuff happening to the people on board,” said Celeste. The amount of fear in her voice increased Jeth’s own worries. Celeste was usually the most fearless person he knew.

“She’s right,” said Flynn. “That place is a dead zone: unreliable comms, poor nav. And there’s supposedly antimatter pits too. They even say parts of it are haunted.”

Lizzie laughed. “Now you’re being retarded. That stuff don’t exist.”

“Doesn’t exist,” Jeth said.

“Whatever.”

Jeth clenched his jaw. Lizzie hadn’t seen the inside of a classroom since Hammer recruited her for the gang, and it bothered him when she spoke improperly. Someone so smart shouldn’t sound so ignorant.

“Please tell me you’re not serious about going into the Belgrave,” Celeste said in an unnaturally quiet voice.

Jeth forced his gaze to her, feeling the first threads of panic tugging at him. They were reacting worse than he’d anticipated. “Yes, I am. The take is killer on this one, and all we have to do is find some ship, the Donerail, and haul it back. We’re even required not to board it. Simple, really.” Besides, he silently added, it’s not like we even have a choice about it. He didn’t think the others had as firm a grasp as he did on how thoroughly under Hammer’s control they were. The crew was more removed from the reality of it. Jeth preferred it that way. It was better for morale.

“How much?” asked Shady.

Jeth let out a breath. “You all get ten-k a piece,” he said. “Half of it upfront this time.”

Shady whistled. “That means your cut is forty, right? Not bad for a salvage job.”

Jeth glanced down, unable to look him in the eye. Their cut could’ve been a lot higher. He shouldn’t have bargained it away without asking them first, even if he had been surprised by Hammer’s response.

“No, the job’s not bad,” Jeth said. “But I’m not exactly getting any money on this one.”

“Then what are you getting?” asked Celeste.

“Once we bring back the Donerail, Hammer’s agreed to give me Avalon.”

Nobody said anything for several moments, mulling over the news. Lizzie looked the most contemplative of all. She knew better than the others what it meant for Jeth to have Avalon back. She too thought of Avalon as a part of the family. True, they never lived on her until after their parents died, but Avalon still represented an important part of who they were.

Shady broke the silence first with a loud belch. “So what does that mean for the rest of us? Are you gonna kick us out?”

Three worried gazes locked on Jeth’s face, all but Milton and Lizzie who already knew they had a permanent home on Avalon, no matter what.

“Of course not,” Jeth said. “You can stay or go as you want, same as always.”

“Will we keep working for Hammer?” said Lizzie. “I suppose we’ll get more money for each job if you’re no longer paying off Avalon.”

“I’m not sure what’ll happen,” said Jeth. He’d never dared telling any of them his plan to settle on Enoch, afraid of jinxing it. “We’ve got to finish the job first.”

“Aren’t we forgetting something here?” Flynn said, sounding on the verge of hysteria. “How the heck are we supposed to find something in the middle of the Belgrave? Horror stories aside, it is a dead zone, which means we might get lost with no way of calling for help. We might die. We might even run out of food.”

“Equipment malfunction won’t be an issue,” said Jeth.

“How do you know?”

“Because we’re taking Avalon for this job. That’s one of the reasons Hammer wants us for it. Her nav systems were specifically modded to handle the energy fluctuations in the Belgrave. She’ll guarantee we find the ship and our way out again.”

“How can you be so sure?” said Celeste in a voice not much more than a whisper.

“Because my parents used her for all of their expeditions.” Celeste exhaled. “What about that ITA guy, Marcus Renford? How does he fit into this?”

“Who?” asked Flynn.

Celeste and Lizzie looked at Jeth, who nodded after a slight hesitation. Lizzie launched into a quick recap of what happened with Renford aboard the Montrose, including how she’d been grazed by that bullet. A disturbing note of pride colored her voice as she spoke.

When she finished, Shady said, “Well, it sounds to me like this Renford dude doesn’t play into things at all. Not if Hammer’s giving us the ship and a fat payday.” He glanced at Jeth, a sheepish expression crossing his face. “No offense, Boss, but finding out what happened to your parents doesn’t seem worth much if it means running afoul of Hammer.”

Jeth pinched his lips together. Shady was right, but Jeth had a hard time saying so when he caught the forlorn look in Lizzie’s eyes. Valuable or not, the truth still meant something to her. Jeth risked a glance at Milton. It meant something to him as well, although his expression remained inscrutable.

It means something to you, too, a voice said in Jeth’s mind. As usual, he ignored it.

“No offense taken,” Jeth said at last. “And you’re right. Renford’s offer, whatever my parents did or didn’t do, none of it matters as much as getting this job done. Now, Hammer wants us on the move as soon as possible. So take the morning to buy any personal supplies you’re running low on. We fly out this afternoon.”

Everyone nodded. A couple of minutes later, the conversation returned to normal and eating resumed. When the meal ended, Jeth volunteered to clean the dishes. It wasn’t his turn, but he was still feeling guilty about bargaining away some of their money and figured any kind of penance would help ease his conscience.

The crew slowly departed until only Milton remained. Jeth watched warily as Milton withdrew a pipe from his coat pocket and began packing it with greenish-brown leaves. The sweet, herbal smell of the smoke filled the galley in seconds, tickling Jeth’s nose.

“So,” Milton said as Jeth started gathering plates. “You don’t really believe a man like Hammer is going to just let you have Avalon so easily, do you?”

Jeth sighed. Leave it to Milton to say what he already feared. “Not really. Mom and Dad didn’t raise me to be stupid.”

Milton flinched like he always did whenever Jeth mentioned his parents. “No, they didn’t. But if you know that Hammer has other intentions, what are you going to do about it?”

“Don’t know yet. But Hammer did say he’d give me a copy of the title and transfer papers. That’s something, at least, isn’t it?” Jeth couldn’t help the sudden flare of resentment that heated his body. It was hard talking about this to the man who’d lost Avalon in the first place. He loved his uncle, but that didn’t mean he didn’t hate him sometimes, too.

“Maybe.” Milton took a long drag on his pipe. “Let’s assume for a second that you succeed in getting Avalon. Where will you go?”

Jeth ran a hand through his hair, struggling with his temper. “Not sure. Figure I’ll find out when I get there.”

Milton sighed as he turned his gaze toward the single window in the galley that looked out into open space. “Were you tempted by Renford’s offer?”

Jeth swallowed, his throat tight. “No. The ITA are even more dangerous than Hammer.”

“Yes, they are.” Milton sucked on his pipe and then blew out a long puff of smoke. “And no matter how much we might want to know what happened to your parents, the truth is too dangerous. Whatever they found out there, the ITA killed them for it, make no mistake. They will kill you, too. And me. And Lizzie. And anyone else who gets too close to the truth.”

Jeth turned away from his uncle, focusing his attention on the dishes. He didn’t need the situation put into perspective. He could do that well enough on his own.

A scrape of chair legs echoed behind him. Then Milton stepped beside Jeth, close enough that their arms touched. In a low, tremulous voice, Milton said, “Don’t do this job, Jethro. Let’s just take the ship and go and never look back. It won’t be easy, but we can escape, somehow, disappear.”

It wasn’t what Jeth had expected to hear from his uncle. He looked over at Milton, keenly aware that he was taller than him now by at least half a head. He wondered how long it had been so. Strange how life just happened sometimes, sneaking up on you like a thief in the dark. “Why do you say this, now?”

Milton took a long drag on his pipe and an even longer exhale. “There’s something . . . off about all of it. The ITA’s interest, that agent singling you out. And it’s the Belgrave, an unlucky place for this ship and this family.”

Jeth blinked rapidly as an unexpected swell of emotion made his eyes prickle with tears. He couldn’t think about that. Couldn’t let his parents’ death get in the way now. It had been getting in the way all his life. But not anymore.

With an effort, Jeth forced the pain and fear back into that deep, secret place inside him. “What happened to them won’t happen to me. I’ve been paying for their mistakes my whole life. I’m not going to make the same ones.”

Milton made a sound between a grunt and a moan of despair. “Spoken like a boy instead of the man you ought to be by now.”

The words hit Jeth like a slap. What do you know about it? he wanted to say. I’ve never been a boy, thanks to you. Thanks to your gambling and drinking.

“You’re not going to make me change my mind,” Jeth said.

“Yes, I know.” Milton made to leave, but stopped in the doorway. “I just hope you’re right.”

“Does this mean you’re coming?” Jeth held his breath, waiting for the answer.

“Yes,” Milton said after a long pause. Then he left without another word.

Jeth let out his breath, relief flooding him. Despite the friction between them, Milton’s presence made him feel safer, almost like having a real parent around.

Not that a parent would be able to save him. Jeth swallowed. He hoped he was right, too.