ABC - Penance

Public Cemetery, Unity Townsite

February 14th V27 (2047AD)

The Boss wanted me to take a few days off so I convinced Jan to go on a road trip with me. She couldn’t get a sitter for Amy at such short notice so my god-daughter came with us. I had asked Papa if he would like to come, but he said the gym needed his attention.

Minke insisted on coming too, uncaring of where we actually went. She just wanted to see someplace other than Spitfield, which had been all she had seen of the Zone up to now. The memories she had of her early childhood with her parents at Camp Three didn’t count she claimed, since it was all an unhappy blur. Her enthusiasm for the trip rubbed off on Hanna-Lei, who ended up shyly approaching me to see if she could join us.

With Minke’s eyes pleading me to say yes, I had no choice but to agree.

In the end I hired an electric mini-van with enough seats for everyone and a capacious trunk for all the baggage. It was a brilliant yellow, only a year old and had an excellent auto-drive AI onboard. We duly christened it the Big Banana and set off on a week long excursion to the northern tip of the Zone.

My plan was to head along the eastern coast, seeing the sights until we reached Skyport. I had been inspired by Mabel’s story and wanted to see a space launch. There was one important stop first, which we reached on the first day.

“A cemetery?” Jan queried from the front passenger seat while I drove us into the carpark.

“Yeah, I wanted to pay my respects to someone”

I parked the Big Banana in the empty parking lot and the five of us clambered out of the various side doors. The sky was a brilliant blue, the midday sun shining down from a cloudless expanse. Luckily the storms from the nuclear detonation had passed, leaving Spitfield wallowing in heat and humidity like usual.

The explosion had been declared an act of terrorism, the Santa Velona supposedly on its way to Skyport to wreak devastation before an assault by the Guard had forced them out to sea. Despairing at being foiled, the new feeds spoke of how the terrorists triggered the device in a shipping lane, hoping to exact retribution on the Zone.

Like all good lies, there was enough truth at the heart of this tale to make it believable. I had no doubt Jericho-Three had spun the story himself for the news feeds, since there was no way to hide such a massive explosion from the public.

“This is a beautiful spot” Jan spoke admiringly, placing a sun-hat on her head and wrestling a smaller version onto her impatient child. I put a Divebombers cap on my own head and linked hands with her and Amy.

“Yeah” I agreed. “They have the space out here to make them nice. The one I want to see is this way” Minke and Hanna-Lei took off in their own direction, telling us they would catch up.

I had already called Wade and he had told me where the grave marker was. With Jan and Amy in tow, I led them along a leaf strewn path to the garden section. Bobbi’s grave was marked with a simple headstone of laser etched concrete, painted a clean white. It lay in front of a small garden bed filled with yellow roses, only just now blooming.

Her ashes were scattered in the soil, becoming part of the town she had cared about. In time she would be merged with the roses, an apt symbol for a woman born in far off Texas. The marker had her name and the date she died. Below that was a simple inscription, the words provided by Wade.

“Here lies a Yellow Rose of Texas. All beauty has its thorns”

Jan and I stood side by side, silent but for my whispered prayer for the fallen warrior.

“She saved your life, didn’t she?” Jan asked me. I had not told her what had happened in Unity, but she knew me well enough to know it had been bad. “I bet you fell in love with her too”

“Yes and no” I answered. “She impressed the hell out of me, even when she was trying to kill me. But I didn’t fall in love with her”

“Yeah, you did” Jan replied, gripping my hand tightly. “I know you, Luisa. You can’t resist a pretty face”

I laughed a little at that, remembering an almost identical conversation with Georgia. I guess I had no secrets from the people close to me.

“You’re the one I want to spend the rest of my life with” I told her in reply. We watched Amy run around the garden, her shrill voice startling some crows in a nearby tree. They cawed loudly, as if chastising the child for disturbing the serenity of this place.

“I want to be a parent to Amy too, not just an aunty or your girlfriend” I continued. I faced her, letting go of her hands to retrieve a small case from my jeans pocket. Jan looked at what I had brought out and stepped back, raising a hand to her mouth.

“Luisa, don’t you dare!” she warned me. “We’re in a bloody cemetery for Christ’s sake!”

I knelt on the grass and opened the case. A worn gold ring lay inside, nestled on a piece of red velvet. It belonged to my Mama, passed to me by Papa years ago for a moment just like this.

“It’s Valentine’s Day and we are in a lovely garden” I said. I met her eyes steadfastly and proffered the ring. “How about it?”

She laughed loudly, her worried expression transformed into one of amusement. Jan snickered a bit longer, making me feel rather uncomfortable on one bent knee.

“That is one hell of a romantic proposal” she managed to finally get out as her sides stopped shaking. She reached forwards and lifted me onto my feet, her hands warm around mine.

“So will you marry me?” I wanted to know.

“Can I ask someone else first before I answer?” she replied, her voice all serious. I nodded my agreement, not trusting my own voice at this moment.

“Amy, come over here please sweetie!” Jan called out. The wayward child stopped throwing sticks at the crows and ran over to us.

“What mommy?” she demanded, her sweet little face red from the activity.

“How would you feel if mommy got married to Aunty Luisa?” she said. I offered an encouraging smile, trying to hide the mixed emotions raging in my heart.

“What if Daddy comes back?” Amy pondered. “Won’t he get angry again if you are married to Aunty Weeza?”

“Daddy isn’t coming back, Amy” Jan said lightly. “Luisa made him go away so he couldn’t hurt us again”

Damn right, I thought to myself. Daddy was ashes in his tiny grave, buried a long way off in Spitfield Public Cemetery. I had still been under review at the time, so only Jan and Detective Kamori had attended the funeral. Since he had been implicated in a number of serious crimes, Peter hadn’t been granted a Police Auxiliaries funeral.

It had been just as well I wasn’t allowed to go, as I would have been hard pressed not to spit on his final resting place.

Amy regarded me with her clear blue eyes and gifted me with a tentative smile.

“Okay mommy, you can marry Aunty” she announced and I released the breath I hadn’t known I was holding. I ran forwards and grab the stunned girl in an engulfing hug, lifting her up and smothering her squirming face with kisses.

“Hey, shouldn’t you be kissing me?” Jan demanded, her face grinning too. I paused and hefted Amy onto my shoulder, watching my new fiancé.

I held the ring out to her and she took it, holding it in her hands.

“I only have one condition of my own” Jan added. “We’ll wait one year before we get married. In that time, either one of us can call it off, no questions asked. Is that acceptable?”

“Sure” I agreed readily. “One year sounds perfect for an engagement”

“Okay then” Jan nodded, her eyes on the simple gold band she held. “One more thing, I can’t wear this on my hand. Not yet” She made to give the ring back to me and I held up a palm in denial.

“Nope” I said. “If you won’t wear it, can I ask for a compromise? How about Amy carries it on her necklace?”

My god-daughter had a plain gold necklace I had given the child on her second birthday, a tiny crucifix at her throat. Jan asked the child and she happily agreed, so we fixed the ring alongside the cross.

We set Amy on the ground again and she scampered off, keen to show the nasty crows her new piece of treasure.

“Aren’t you afraid she’ll lose it?” Jan asked me.

“Nah” I answered. “I have a feeling she’ll take better care of it than you or I would”

I faced Jan and pulled her close to me, wrapping my arms around her.

“All we need to do now is seal the deal with a kiss” I explained. Our lips touched and I felt this beautiful woman melt into me, giving herself to me even as I yielded to her.

“Oh, that’s gross!” called out Minke. “We’re in a cemetery you dirty old women! At least go and do that in the bushes or something!”

We pulled apart with a giggle and then all five of us trooped back to the Big Banana. I held hands with Jan and Amy, while in front of us walked Minke and Hanna-Lei. The young women were also hand in hand, giving each other shy looks as they walked the leaf covered path.

“I don’t think ours was the only declaration of love today” Jan whispered to me.

“Yeah, I think you may be right”

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Epilogue

The rest of our trip went well. I introduced Jan and the others to Wade, who insisted we have dinner at the newly re-named Bobbi’s Place. Nigel and Catherine stopped by and we had a great meal, cooked by Wade with remarkable skill. His left arm was a new cybernetic one, a utility arm rather than a combat model like his right.

He told me he was thinking of joining Jimenez in the bar and food business, using his share of the substantial payout from my boss for their last mission. When I asked about what Nigel and Catherine were going to do, they had decided to head to Haven. Apparently Chain Hammer was looking to recruit extra Freelancers, but if that fell through Mabel had offered them work with her Clan.

We stayed overnight in the Restful Kingdom, Minke and Hanna-Lei in one room and Jan and I with Amy in another. I know my fiancé and I had a rather chaste night, with Amy snuggled between us on the cramped bed. The two girls on the other hand were all secret looks and shy smiles for the rest of the day as we drove north. Every so often I glanced in the rearview mirror, seeing them hold hands and once exchange a brief kiss.

I had never felt happier than on that journey, seeing Minke find a place for herself in the world. She topped it for me when we finally got to Skyport, joining a host of locals and visitors at the Launch Viewing Stand, overlooking the main launching pad of the facility.

A heavy Orbital Lifter rose on a pillar of fire, shining like a second sun as it ascended towards Orbital Two in the heavens above. It was only a cargo launch, carrying new crew and supplies for a mission headed to the Belt, yet it drew excited gasps and applause from all of us.

“I’ve decided what I want to do with my life, Luisa” she had declared to me, standing at my side as we craned our necks to follow the rising spaceship.

“What’s that?” I asked her. “Become an astronaut?”

“No, don’t be silly” she replied and I dropped my gaze to her serious face. “I want to be a Police Auxiliary Officer, like you”

“Oh?” I said in an even tone. “Are you sure? It’s a tough gig you know”

“I know” she admitted. “But I reckon if you can do it, then I should be fine”

I have no idea what expressions ran across my face at that moment, but Minke laughed and slipped her hand into mine.

“Sorry, Mama” she said. “That was mean. But I know you’ll support me in this and Papa has already given his blessing to us”

“To us?” I queried in confusion.

“Yeah. Hanna-Lei decided we are joining up together. We submitted our applications the day before we left Spitfield”

“Of course” I acknowledged. “You will both make excellent Officers, I am sure of that”

Minke and Hanna-Lei took an excited Amy to the Museum of Space Travel that adjoined the viewing stands, mingling with the crowd now that the launch was a fading speck in the sky. Jan snagged my hand and we walked slowly behind them, relishing a moment alone.

“You’re happy, aren’t you?” Jan asked me, swinging our hands as we stepped in unison. “You seem to have had a great weight lifted from your shoulders”

“I am happy, Jan” I agreed. “There are some big things happening in the world, things that honestly scare me to death. Yet at the same time I feel like I have served my penance, I’ve suffered the pain and anguish that the world demanded from me. I’m just one woman with an Ability to cause trouble, but I reckon that will be enough for what is coming”

She stopped and we turned to face each other, letting the last of the watchers from the launch trickle past us.

“You always do what you have to, Luisa, no matter the cost to yourself. I know you don’t think well of yourself, that you have a monster living inside of you” She touched my chest, laying her hand over my heart. “That person inside, the one you are frightened to show me? I know her already, I know Judy from before. She doesn’t scare me because I know she loves me and Amy and Minke too”

“Judy is a real bitch, Jan” I told her flatly. “You should be scared of her”

“No Luisa, only your enemies ever need to fear Judy” Jan reminded me. She leaned forwards to lay her head beside her hand, pressing her warm cheek against my t-shirt. “Judy, I know you are listening in there, so pay attention”

I stiffened, feeling something rising up within me from the darkness.

“I’m listening” Judy said from my mouth, stealing my voice. My fists were clenching, drawing power into them, ready to be unleashed. I couldn’t stop her, nor reason with her. She was my bestial flip-side, the other face to my personality.

“I forgive you, Judy” she whispered to my heart. “I forgive you and I love you with everything I have. Keep Luisa safe for me, can you promise that?”

“I promise” Judy spoke then she let me go, releasing the power she had summoned. I sagged with relief, Jan catching me hurriedly as my legs gave way. The pair of us stood like that for a while, just holding each other.

“Now I’m happy too” Jan told me and kissed me lightly on the lips. “Come on, stand on your own two feet you lazy cow” she admonished me. “We need to make sure the girls don’t load Amy up on Panic Cola and candy!”

“Copy that” I answered and together we headed after our charges, hand in hand as the bright sun warmed us, dispelling the dark shadows that had surrounded me.

This is the end of ABC – Penance Part Two.

The story of Luisa Alvarez will continue in ABC – The Lazarus War

Thanks for reading!