Tales from the Stream

Author’s Note

This chapter focuses on backstory. As a result, it’s all story and no sexy bits. It’s like when your favorite television comedy suddenly throws you a curve with a serious episode. This is that episode.

There is, however, love. A lot of love.

 

* 

Chapter 8: S’mores

Onboard The Black Prince

“Lúcia,” said Emily, hustling down the corridor. “Hey Lúcia. Check this out.”

Lúcia stopped and turned.

Emily raised the tablet she was holding in her hand and held it out flat. She tapped the screen. Above the screen, a small holographic flame appeared. Emily grinned.

“What is it?” asked Lúcia.

“It’s a flame.”

“Interesting.”

“Thanks,” said Emily. “What do you think of the color? Realistic? Or too orange. I think it might be too orange.”

Lúcia stepped in to examine the flame more closely. She turned her head to look at it from the top and then the bottom. She poked at the hologram with her finger and waved her hand over it. Finally, she blew on it.

“It never goes out?”

Emily shook her head and smiled proudly.

“Emily.” Lúcia stood staring. “Please tell me you have not committed a grave error in judgment. If so, we must ask Captain Jade to turn the ship around and beg forgiveness from the people of Nouveau Paris.”

“What? Why? ‘Cause it’s too orange? I can adjust the—”

“I have only ever seen one other such flame, and that is at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, beneath the Arc de Triomphe, on the Champs-Élysées in Nouveau Paris. It was wrong of you to think you could appropriate such a memorial for your own purposes, Emily. Not only do you disrespect the families of those who have died fighting for their country, but you disrespect yourself and the crew of this ship you call home.” Lúcia thrust out her hand. “Come with me now. We must pray for guidance.”

“What? No. I didn’t steal the eternal flame. I didn’t steal anything. I made this. From scratch. I programmed it.”

“Programmed? It is an app, then? Not an actual flame?” Lúcia let her hand drop to her side. “Like email? May I contact my pen pal Marie-Anne using your flame mail app?”

Emily took a deep breath and exhaled. “No. I mean, yes, it’s an app. Sort of like email is an app, but you don’t use it like email.”

“What do you do with it?”

“I don’t know. Just look at it, I guess.”

Lúcia stepped around to the other side and examined the flame again. “It is most tranquil. And I am sorry for doubting your intentions and questioning your honesty, Emily. I hope you can forgive me.”

“Forgive you? Of course, Lúcia. I could never be cross with you. And if I had stolen it, I’m pleased that you would take the time to help me make things right. Not a lot of people would do that. At least none of the people I’ve known.”

“Captain Jade would.”

Emily nodded. “And Amaliya”.

“Sisters,” said Lúcia held her arms wide.

Emily stepped forward and laid her head on Lúcia’s shoulder. “Sisters,” whispered Lúcia as she wrapped her arms tight.

“Sisters.” Emily sniffled once.

“How did you make this eternal flame?” Lúcia asked after some time.

Emily straightened up and wiped under her eyes. “You know, programming. It’s what I used to do. Before I lost my job and got mixed up with that awful couple on the Kobayashi Maru.”

“I heard tell of that ship. Bits and pieces of the captain and XO recounting their early adventures. The owners of the Kobayashi were not kind to you.”

“That pretty well sums it up,” said Emily.

“I understand your struggle, Emily. I was born into it.” Lúcia held out her hand and turned it so the barcode tattoo on her wrist was facing up. “This is not a childhood I would wish upon anyone. With God’s help, I have learned to forgive, and perhaps I can help you in that respect… but I have not yet learned to forget.”

Emily, her lip quivering, looked into Lúcia’s eyes. She held her arms wide. Lúcia stepped forward and laid her head on Emily’s shoulder. “Sisters,” whispered Emily.

“Sisters.” Lúcia sniffled once.

 

* * * 

In the conn

“That looks like a good place to pull over,” said Jade, tapping the screen of the navigation console. “Nice, stable yellow star system. A couple of gas giants to hide behind in case anyone takes an interest in us in an official capacity. Like the parking police. Can’t afford any more tickets.”

“Any good restaurants?” asked Amaliya, hovering over Jades shoulder.

“We’re stopping to paint the hull with the new logo, baby, not to critique the local cuisine.”

“I know. But after that wonderful little cafe on Nouveau Paris… the one with that scrumptious baguette. Well, since then I’m beginning to look at emergency rations in a whole new light.”

Jade shrugged.

“It’s a dim light,” said Amaliya. “In case you wanted to know. A very dim light. Like an old flashlight. The kind you buy for ‘just in case’. Still with the original batteries from when you had the fit of survivalist instinct around the turn of the century. The kind that when you flip the switch, it takes a second to come on. And then only a—”

“We could ask Emily to check the Michelin Guide if it’s that important.”

“Yes, please.” Amaliya leaned forward to Jade in her arms and planted a kiss on top of her head.

Jade plucked the microphone from its cradle and turned the knob to the shipwide intercom position.

“Attention science officer and part time tour guide Emily. This is your captain speaking. The dread pirate, Jade.” Jade grinned at the sound of her voice echoing down the corridor outside.

Amaliya rolled her eyes.

“Your presence is requested in the conn. And please bring the Michelin Guide with you. We have a culinary emergency on our hands. And as captain, I take a personal responsibility for the safety this vessel and the fine crew crew that serves her. So I think in the interest of—”

Amaliya whacked Jade on the shoulder.

“What the f—”

“They’re here,” said Amaliya.

“Oh,” said Jade.

Emily held up the Michelin Guide tablet. Lúcia raised her index finger to point at it.

“Right. Good,” said Jade.

Emily cleared her throat. “The emergency, Captain?”

“Are there any good restaurants in the…” Jade squinted at the navigation console. “The um… Whatever system this is.”

Emily reached over Jade’s shoulder and hovered the Michelin Guide a few centimeters above the console. There was a short beep.

Emily looked at the screen of the tablet. She shook her head. She swiped at the tablet once, then twice again in quick succession. “Nope,” she said.

“Nope?” Jade said. “Just nope?”

“Not even a burger joint?” asked Amaliya.

“Nope.”

“Fucking granola bars.” Amaliya shook her head. “If I have to eat one more fucking—”

“Show her the thing,” said Lúcia.

“What thing?”

“The app.”

“Oh,” said Emily, “the app.”

“What app?” asked Jade.

“Can it make lunch?” Asked Amaliya.

“It is most tranquil,” said Lúcia.

“Dim the lights,” said Emily.

Jade slid her hand across the pilot console. Emily held the Michelin Guide tablet so it was horizontal with the screen facing up. She tapped it once.

“Ooh,” said Jade.

“I know, right?” said Emily.

Lúcia waved her hand over the holographic image. “The flame that does not burn the flesh,” she said.

“Huh,” said Amaliya, “I must admit, I’m finding it rather intriguing. Where’d you get it?”

“She made it,” said Lúcia.

“No shit,” said Jade. “I’m impressed.”

“Can it make a baguette?” asked Amaliya.

“Probably not,” said Emily.

“It is for looking,” said Lúcia. “I think it is beautiful.”

“It’s not too orange?” asked Emily.

“It is not.”

Emily leaned over and planted her lips on Lúcia’s cheek. “You’re sweet.”

“We could roast marshmallows,” sighed Amaliya. “If it had heat… and we had marshmallows.”

“Ooh,” said Jade, holding one finger in the air. “That gives me an idea.”

Jade turned and dashed from the conn to mid-way down the corridor. She stopped at the galley. A moment later she hollered, “Found it!”

The trio in the conn funneled out into the corridor. “Found what?” asked Emily.

Jade held up a granola bar. “S’mores flavor,” she said.

Lúcia scrunched up her face. “S’mores flavor?”

“Yeah,” said Jade. “You take a roasted marshmallow, some chocolate, and you smash it all between a couple of graham crackers.”

“Why?” asked Lúcia.

“I don’t know,” said Jade, “’cause it’s good.”

“Fucking granola bars,” sighed Amaliya.

“What do you say we have a campfire tonight?” Jade raised her eyebrows and scanned the three faces around her. “Em, can you make that flame thing bigger?”

Emily nodded.

“Cool,” said Jade. “This is gonna be fun. And we’ve got s’mores.”

Amaliya stared at the floor and muttered, “Fucking granola bars.”

 

* * * 

In the lounge

“This is nice,” said Jade, sitting cross-legged on a blanket laid out over the floor, leaning up against the front of a Megacomf couch with the cushions removed. She chomped the end off a s’mores flavored granola bar. “And pretty damn tasty.”

“I love campfires,” said Amaliya. “And s’mores.”

She chomped the end off her granola bar and chewed. “Though this is not bad… for emergency rations.”

“Emergency s’mores,” said Lúcia, grinning.

“I like the ambiance,” said Emily. “Turning off the lights was a good idea.” The holographic flame flickered over the surface of the tablet in the middle of the floor, casting orange and yellow against the walls.

Jade took another bite of granola bar and raised an eyebrow as she chewed.

“I miss campfires,” said Amaliya. “One of the best memory of my youth. Dad trying to put up the tent while Mom told him he was doing it all wrong, and campfires. Even government cheese tastes better when it’s stuck between two pieces of bread and toasted over a campfire.”

“You had a model childhood,” Jade said, as she reached out to squeeze Amaliya’s hand.

“Yeah, not bad,” said Amaliya. “I was quite the tomboy at that age. Wilderness was my jam.”

“How about you, captain?” asked Lúcia. “Are s’mores your jam?”

“Me?” said Jade. “I’m from North Philly. I’ve never had a s’more.”

“Really?” asked Emily. “I assumed since you knew how to make them—”

“Outdoor magazines.” Jade ripped another hunk of granola bar with her teeth.

“What?”

“I used to hang at the corner store and read the outdoor magazines.” Jade chewed. “Until they got tired of looking at me and chased me out. Probably thought I was going to steal one, come to think of it.”

“Did you?” asked Amaliya.

“What?”

“Take the magazine without paying for it?”

“I don’t remember. I don’t think so. I mean, I got into other sorts of trouble—”

“Stealing bread when you are hungry may be a crime in the eyes of the law,” said Lúcia, “but I do not believe it is a sin in the eyes of God. Perhaps it was your intellect that was hungry for stimulation, the way a rumbling belly demands food. If so, I do not believe it would be a sin to take a magazine from the shelf.”

“I never thought of it that way,” said Jade. “I wish I’d had you around when I was younger, Lúcia. I might have turned out better with a moral compass.”

“I think you turned out just fine,” said Amaliya, wrapping her hands around Jades arm and leaning against her shoulder.

“I got lucky,” said Jade.

No one said anything for a moment. Finally Emily spoke up. “You can’t end a conversation like that,” she said. “Details, girl, details.”

Jade blushed. “Remember on Nouveau Paris? The courtroom and the automaton judge?”

Amaliya looked up. “Those were malfunctioning. Val and Marie-Anne said so.”

“Yeah, maybe,” said Jade, “but the rap sheet he was reading was true.”

“Ooh,” said Emily, rubbing her hands together. “The juicy details come out.”

Jade squinted her eyes and stuck her tongue out in Emily’s direction. She then threw her head back and laughed. “I guess it’s not really a surprise I became a pirate. I had a pretty misguided youth.”

“I used to run illicit substances. Starting… oh, I don’t know… pretty young. It was a great way to make money. ‘Cause if you get caught holding and you’re underage, there’s not a whole lot of bad the law can throw at you.”

“Drugs?” asked Emily.

Jade nodded.

“Just say no.” Lúcia grinned.

“Not like the hard stuff,” said Jade. “Mostly it was a little pick me up or a little check me out of life for a few hours sort of thing. A lot of it was legal in other states. Or with a prescription.”

“I’m not judging,” said Emily. “Just didn’t expect it. That’s all.”

“That’s why you had the tranqs,” said Amaliya. “The packet I slipped into Latte Lady’s coffee. The lady who used to own this ship.”

Jade nodded. “Old habits die hard. Particularly when there’s money to be made. Shady business though. Not always the nicest people.”

“Like the one you whacked with a juicer?” said Emily.

“Oh, you remembered that, do you?”

“It’s not every day you hear juicer uttered in a courtroom in reference to an assault charge. Kinda stuck with me.”

“Mom’s boyfriend,” said Jade. “One of ’em anyway. We had a little heart to heart about expectations one day. Part of it involved the juicer he was so fond of. Didn’t see much of him after that.”

“Sounds like my boyfriend,” said Amaliya. “Probably distant cousins or something.”

All eyes turned to Amaliya. “You…” said Jade, her mouth hanging open. “I guess I always figured… You know, girls were your jam.”

“Well, I didn’t always have my shit together like I do now,” said Amaliya. “I used to lie to myself that I did, but… well… I used to lie to myself about a lot of things.”

Amaliya rubbed the tip of her nose.

“It’s okay,” said Jade. “You don’t have to—”

“Nah,” said Amaliya. “It’s fine. It’s the same old story, really. Small town boy meets small town girl. Girl convinces herself it’s love, because that’s what you’re supposed to do, right?

“Except, it’s not that great and to top it off, boy has a love for the bottle that doesn’t manifest until later in the relationship. And one night he’s sitting on the girl’s back, pinning her to the mattress and carving on her with a knife.”

Amaliya slipped her undershirt off her shoulder and turned around to show her scars. “Because she said no.”

“Shit,” Emily said, her lip beginning to quiver. Jade began clenching and unclenching her fist in a rhythmic sort of way. Lúcia bowed her head, muttering words of prayer under her breath.

“Cramps. It was the cramps that did it. From what I hear, normally when you get bad cramps, the doctor throws birth control at you and says come back if things don’t improve. They don’t even charge you for it, because it’s covered under federal medical. But not there. Not where I grew up.

“Oh, it was still free, but you couldn’t get it unless your husband signs off on it. And I wasn’t married, so even though I was getting fucked on a pretty regular basis, not to mention debilitating cramps every month… Well, let’s just say nobody was lining up to throw birth control at me.

“And I was feeling pretty rotten that day, so I told him no.”

Jade clenched both hands into fists and let go. “I can understand your desire to smash the patriarchy,” she said. “I’m sorry for calling you a socialist.”

“I’ve been called worse,” said Amaliya, with a halfhearted smile. “But, thanks.”

Emily reached out and laid her hand on Amaliya’s knee.

“I still don’t understand it,” Amaliya said. “We had this thing. I let him fuck me in the ass. Isn’t that like, every guy’s dream? Told him I’d always wanted to try it. That was a lie of course, but it kept me from getting knocked up, right? And, he loved it. Said it was like a velvet glove wrapped around his… you know.

“But regardless of where a girl’s being poked, it sucks with cramps. So that night I told him no. You’d think after pretty much living his kinky fantasy for I don’t know how long, he could handle one night of rubbing one out alone, or whatever it is guys do.”

“Shit,” said Emily, “That’d be enough to make me go gay.”

“Funny you should mention that. I was queer as a three dollar bill. I knew it. Since puberty. But in places where you’re not allowed to have birth control without your husband’s say-so, you certainly weren’t allowed to be gay. So I convinced myself I was bi.

“See, nobody I knew really believed bisexuals existed. If a girl happened to get a little too drunk, lose her inhibitions, and start making out with her best friend, she was labeled as an attention seeker. Slutting it up to get the guys all hot and bothered. Because, she couldn’t actually be attracted to her. Not ’round these parts.”

Jade sat up. “I assume the girl who lost her inhibitions was you?”

“That’s why you’re the captain, hon.” Amaliya gave another wan smile.

“But, ya know,” said Amaliya, “This actually worked out in my favor, because now this guy I’m living with. I hesitate to call him my boyfriend at this point. That lie pretty much evaporated after a month. Anyway, after this little display, he gets the idea to try a threesome.

“I hemmed and hawed. Had to make it look convincing. But inside, I’m picturing a girl in my bed and I’m doing cartwheels. Eventually, I said yes.”

“I’m really starting to dislike this dude,” said Emily. “I mean what other male fantasy buttons could you push for him? Ungrateful son of a bitch.”

“I know, right?” said Amaliya. “But it was pretty okay for me at that point. I mean, I’m still getting poked in the pooper, but at least I have my face buried in some hot, wet pussy to distract me. And once he blew his wad, it was just me and whatever girl he brought home spending the rest of the night swapping spit.

“‘Til that one night. The night I had cramps. Stupid slitty he brought home didn’t even try to help… just watched… complained about how she came here expecting a good time… not… not…”

“I wish I’d met you earlier,” said Jade. “He woulda ended up with a concussion flavored smoothie.”

“I admire your chutzpah,” said Amaliya. “I wish I’d known you then, too.” Amaliya sniffled.

“Baby,” Jade said, opening her arms wide.

“Fuck,” said Amaliya. “Sorry.”

Emily and Lúcia both laid hands on Amaliya’s back. Along with Jade, they scooted in until everyone was pressed close.

“Shh,” said Jade, looking at the faces of Emily and Lúcia. “We’ve got you.”

Amaliya finished her story speaking into Jade’s shoulder. “Day after that, I signed up for the next ship out.” She sniffled again. “Didn’t care where.”

No one said anything for a while.

“Fuck,” said Amaliya, and sniffled. Jade held her tight.

“I’m sorry that you had to go through that,” said Emily.

Amaliya reached out to take Emily’s hand. She squeezed. “Thanks. I’m sure you know better than most.”

“Just with those assholes on the Kobayashi,” said Emily. “I realize now how you knew. And Jade’s desire to whack somebody upside the head with a wrench. But, it wasn’t him. It was her.

“I had no idea what I was getting into. My life had been pretty sheltered up to that point. I mean, my parents were kind of distant, absorbed in their careers and all, but I had it easier than most. Went to college, got a degree in computer science.

“I didn’t even have to look that hard for a job. So many people around that time were unemployed, but with the big push for off-wold expansion, jobs were booming. I signed up with a respectable firm. Yutani Corp.

“Not the biggest or best, but they had longevity on their side. They payed for my trip out, got me set up with an apartment. It was good. Until they got bought out.

“That’s the thing with big corporations. No matter how big they get, there’s always a bigger one waiting to gobble them up. This time it Weyland International and it was for a patent. I don’t even remember what it was for. Something important. Important enough that the buyout price for Yutani stock was through the roof.