Chapter 26

Arthur

"A meeting then?"

Nate nodded, just making out his Elder's words from the familiar screech of the wind that accosted the deck of the Prydwen.
"Travis was most insistent that I couldn't know the location of it. Apparently they have an informal gathering once every month or so and, until I'm a proven member of their club, I can't be allowed know the location. I've no other information than that."

A deep frown scrunched up into tight lines on Maxson's youthful face.
"We'll have to go with it then as per their requirements. But I will speak with Cade and see if there is something we can have implanted that will make it easy for us to track you. Prepare yourself in the event that this meeting doesn't go quite as according to plan. In case Travis has any suspicions about you and fighting your way out may end up being the priority."

"Absolutely. He'll come to me at some point in the next few days. In the meantime I plan on solidifying my apparent difference of opinion from Brotherhood doctrine. It'll have to be public and you'll have to play your part too. I think it'll help no end if there's a public feud between us."

Maxson nodded and muttered, "Of course. I'll be waiting for it," before turning his attention once more out over the railings and out across the commonwealth. There was undisguised worry written all over his face.

"Any word from Evie?" Nate ventured.

"She... sent a short message. Through an intermediary that I had no idea about," Maxson huffed. "Apparently its not just the Enclave that have rooted themselves deeply within my chapter."

The younger man let out a long suffering sigh. "I guess I can't complain too much. The interlopers will be my only method of secure communication to her."

"What did she say? If you don't mind me asking."

"She's going out into the Glowing sea. Didn't say why. Just that Owyn will be safe at the base if I return before her. She... was afraid."

Nate blinked. "Eve? Fearful? Maybe you're just reading too much into the message."

"She wrote that she loved me."

"Normally not a sign of fear."

"It is for her. She would only say it if there was strong chance that she would not return. I know her, Sentinel. And she knows me. Something's happening back there in our absence."

"Do you need to go? We can make an excuse."

Maxson shook his head. "Whatever else is going on, Evie's trusting me to continue as planned. We have to clear this disease from our chapter before we can take the fight to them."

They stood quietly beside each other, each pondering their own thoughts while the wind continued to whip across the Prydwen's deck at speed and the distant sun started to set.

"Sentinel..."

"Yes, Elder?"

"Heh. I think you can call me Arthur by now."

Nate smirked. "And you can call me Nate."

"Well, Nate... do you feel up to joining me for a drink in my quarters? I don't particularly feel like I can trust my mind to stay focused alone."

Nate sipped the harsh whiskey, marveling that even after the fall of civilization itself humanity found a way to keep the alcohol industry going.

Maxson was slumped in the chair across from him with a glass of the same whiskey in one while the other tapped out a steady rhythm on the table.

"You seem distracted, Arthur. There's no shame in maybe stepping aside temporally? It's been a very eventful few days."

Maxson snorted. "In all honesty up to a few short days ago I had abandoned any hope of a future for myself. When Eve left, I choose to devote myself to the future of humanity. Even if that meant sacrificing my own happiness. Even if it meant never once having what others around me had. Families. Loved ones. The Brotherhood would be that for me. And now? Now I'm fighting the urge to drop all of my duties and just run back to the Glowing Sea. Run there and snatch Eve and Owyn and just... leave. Go somewhere far away from all of this. Find some plot of reasonable land and, I dunno... farm I suppose."

Nate chuckled. "Interesting dream."

"Do you think she'd come with me still? Be a simple farmer out in the wilds?" Maxson replied with a smirk.

Nate smiled warmly. "I think Eve would never leave your side again willingly."

"You know... I loved her for a very long time before we ever dreamed of breaking the invisible rules and actually doing something about it. Since before we'd even hit puberty if I was truly honest. Funny. To think on those times now. As soon as I had sprouted the first few hairs on my face and could sustain an erection they had me having as much sex as possible with young fertile women from good families that they selected. The Maxson name must live on I was told. My duty was to provide the heirs."

Nate didn't know what to say to this moment of candor from Maxson. "That doesn't sound healthy, Elder. In my era that would be called child abuse."

"It would be classified the same in this era, Nate. To be honest... it's very difficult for me to think on it. I try not to. I have more pleasant memories to recall."

Maxson smiled, the haunted look Nate saw in his eyes disappearing as he raised his glass in a toast. "To the good memories. What few I have."

After they toasted and each overcame the burning liquid that coursed down their throat, Nate carefully asked, "Were the attempts successful at least?"

"Four children over three years. A boy and three girls. The Elder Council had them ferried back west in hopes of protecting them," Maxson replied in a monotone voice.

"Wow. Four. And with Owyn that makes five kids out there. A lot for a young man like yourself."

"None of the others survived their journey. Death found them all either through sickness or they were slaughtered at their mother's breast by raiders."

Nate paled. "I'm sorry, Arthur. To lose children like that. To lose your own childhood like that because of... well, madness. Just madness."

"It's alright. The children were mine but not really. I was too young, too much of a child myself to fully comprehend. I just knew how they were made and what I needed to do make them. When the fourth was confirmed dead, I called a halt to it all. And instead they sent me a would-be wife that would protect the children she bore in situ. Not that plan worked out for them either. I got what I wanted which was Eve and then there was Owyn."

Maxson glanced at Nate with a grin. "It's a good name isn't it? Owyn Maxson. Better than Arthur for sure. A name to live up to. His grandfather was a great man. A better man than me certainly."

"A bit maudlin, Arthur. Owyn's won the lottery in the wasteland. He's got good parents."

"One good parent. I've yet to prove myself in that regard," Arthur chuckled. "But I will. Once this is all done. I've pondered long on what you said regarding the Minutemen when my mind hasn't been consumed with the more melancholy aspects of life. The Minutemen often come with thoughts of Owyn."

Nate frowned. "Oh?"

"There's something in your plan that's really caught my imagination. I think we can make it work, both for us and the wasteland. Re-purpose ourselves for a new age. I'd like that one day children like Owyn will be able to stay as children for longer, be able to play and chase each other outside the walls of their communities without fear from mutant or raider alike. That their families can share in that peace. We've tried as much as we can with what limited forces we can spare but checkpoints and clearing out infested buildings can only do so much."

Maxson turned his intense gaze on Nate fully, "And we may need the Minutemen's assistance far earlier than either of us believed. We need more allies than just the Commonwealth Brotherhood if we wish to stop the Enclave."

"I already have reached out, Elder. Just in case. If you'd like, I can arrange a meeting," Nate added with a brow raised.