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Life Lessons 4
By, Nicole Silverwolf

Medical Log March 25 AC 191:

Duo's pneumonia is responding to the aggressive treatments thus far, which have been noted in earlier logs. Unfortunately, it is very possible that the rattle still audible in the boy's chest is due to some form of permanent lung damage sustained before Duo's appearance on our ship. In any case the boy's recovery has been remarkably quick considering that the child very nearly died the night he was discovered. It will probably be something close to two weeks before the child feels well enough to get around for a whole day.

In regards to the patient's extreme malnutrition, progress is far slower. While not uncommon in cases as severe as this one, it is disheartening. The lagging response to the vitamins, minerals and supplements we have been providing only serve to prove that the child had been suffering from this for more than a few months. While Duo will most likely respond to the constant treatment over an extended period of time it is not unlikely that the child will always be on the stunted side in regards to growth.

On a more personal note. He looks at me instead of the blankets now. Possibly a greater victory than any other.

Dr. Kerry O'Neil

For nearly a week Duo was nothing more than an interesting lump on Howard's bed. He slept more often than not, a curled ball wrapped in blankets, and messy chestnut.

When weariness abated for a few brief hours, Duo was forced to eat a small meal and take more medicine. These small meals were high in nutrition content--sometimes at least--Steve was still trying to figure out how a piece of the chocolate cake from dinner the day before qualified as healthy food for a sick kid.

Though Duo had found the cake to be very good, he had developed a bit of a fetish for red grapes. A milestone in itself it was the first time the child had requested more of anything, without several prods from the server with him at the time. It seemed to surprise Duo that requesting more food did not anger the four in charge of his health. Not as if it was something totally alien to him but something he couldn't quite figure out about the crew. He was a stowaway. Something seemed a bit out of place about their kindness to him at least.

After that, regardless of the meal, a small bundle of washed red grapes appeared on every plate provided for the recovering younger boy.

Though the crew was interested in meeting the young man, they also respected Howard's orders to stay away from the quarters to avoid spreading illness. Every few hours someone new would poke around looking for Kerry or Howard, and asking about the ship's newest addition.

Duo--they soon discovered--practically cherished water. Adored it in every possible form the liquid came in and preferred it over everything when he was awake. Without explaining much he had quietly mentioned one afternoon to Ray that on L2, water was so rationed that unless you were rich there was barely enough water to drink let alone bathe in.

The next afternoon, when the boy tried hardest to stay awake--by an Earth standard clock around four in the afternoon--Ray and Steve sprung a surprise bath on Duo. As an almost present for him since he was unconscious for the first one.

For Duo, having been only wet for a few minutes at a time in water that felt like sweat and grime and distillation, this was as close to heaven as his young mind could comprehend.

Though the bath only lasted about ten minutes, it had taken its toll on Duo, exhausting the child completely. Healing rapidly, he was still weak and tired out by relatively non-taxing events such as baths. His body was rebounding incredibly quickly, possibly due to his hard life and being born in the colonies. But the pneumonia was just as stubborn in clearing from his lungs and played tug of war with Duo's health.

The two older men were barely able to get the child dressed in the washed sweats, and a sandwich, meds and water into him before he was curled up in the blankets again.

He didn't stir at all when Kerry came in hours later, and with little skill in the area, rebraided his hair. It was a testament to how exhausted he was.

"Hey Steve! Wait up man!" Came a hardly audible shout over the clinging and clattering of huge cranes and movers.

The called for man stopped in his tracks and searched through the brown and blue grays of this typically mundane docking bay until he spotted Ray racing to catch up. Dressed in khaki's and civilian clothes with a backpack strung over both shoulders, it was hard to compare him to the quirky mechanic. Ray had a thing about sleeping the wrong way on a bunk and a rather laughable fear of little unconscious kids.

Ray pulled up short, gulping recycled air like a fish out of water.

"Are you heading on colony Steve?"

While the Sweepers traveled from colony to colony every few days, rarely did anyone have a lot of time to travel into the colony itself. The docks were separated from the main parts of the city and everyone was often so busy that the only time anyone ventured into the city was at night for a drink at a bar or for dinner. Someone had once dubbed it "going on holiday" since they rarely got past the huge cranes skirting the outsides of the huge bays. Of course the notable exception was the food runner--a person designated by the cook for the trip--to go and get the food supply for the duration of their flight.

Waiting while Ray re-conserved oxygen for a moment he nodded.

"Yeah, I'm getting food for Marlon and doing a little shopping."

"It isn't someone's birthday or something is it?" Ray didn't think it was. He would have remembered something like that.

"No. But I was thinking that our new crew member could use some clothes of his own, don't you think?"

"Cool I was thinking the same thing. Mind if I tag along?"

"Nope. C'mon"

They started walking again, moving around the gigantic crates and cranes swooshing by with a natural grace and ease which made it seem almost like a dance.

"So you got any plans for tonight Ray?"

"Yeah, a few of us are planning to hit the bars tonight. I hear there are a couple of great brewery's around here. Eduardo mentioned them. We're gonna check a few of them out. You? Any plans tonight?"

Steve nodded silently as they ducked under a low beam and away from a particularly loud engine that blocked all sounds.

"A few of us are heading to a bar we like here. Good beer, not much hassle, not a lot of tourists, real locals place. Good jazz too."

They continued on to the town below.

Market was a relatively straightforward transaction. However they spent a good deal of time haggling over the price of bananas, which had been significantly lower the last time they had stopped here. Marlon had insisted on having real Earth grown bananas, not the ones grown in hydroponics bays. Those weren't good for frying or something like that. It was good luck that he would only need enough for one night. Otherwise they would never have enough money to buy the rest of the food they would need for the week and a half long journey to the L5 area.

Most of the stuff would be delivered by the end of the work day when the stalls would close up shop for the night. The rest would be delivered in the morning before they were scheduled to depart.

With Steve's required chores out of the way, the two Sweepers turned to the other task they had set out for themselves that morning. Combined with a meager haul and bills that the two accumulated despite the fact that they lived on an inter-colony transport ship, they had little money left over to spend on extras.

Fortunately there were many thrift and second hand shops in the area and both of the men had learned to live on a shoestring budget before, in college and after. They managed to accumulate a decent collection of clothes that would fit Duo and which closely resembled the ones they had found him in a few weeks ago.

Surprisingly it had been one of the few things the child had been adamant about having returned to him. The worn black wool fabric, which had seen better days to say the least, was like a sort of security blanket it seemed to them. It must have been very important to the boy. Unfortunately the threads that made up the cloth were holding together by luck and gravity alone. Even Duo had to admit they weren't suitable for wearing anymore.

But they had managed to find some things that were almost identical in nature to the other one...they would probably be fine. Added to that were several other essential things so there were enough clothes to fill out roughly a week for the kid.

"So when do you wanna spring this little surprise on the kid?"

"Tonight, before we go?"

"I was planning on going early..."

"...how bout after then?"

"With the way you drink Ray, that would just be a bad idea."

"What are you talking about! You can drink almost anyone under the table. I've seen you do it on several occasions."

Steve chuckled lowly.

"How about after you're over your hangover?"

"HEY!"

"It's not my fault that I never have one."

Laughter followed the two as they returned to the ship under the cover of the late afternoon light.

Days later the Sweepers were well on their way, with a new (very thoroughly checked for stowaways) cargo. Several new parts orders as well as a rather new model ship in need of massive upgrades and repairs (already) now left the crew with little free time on their hands. When they weren't working, most slept or did mundane chores like laundry and such.

Consequently, Duo was left to himself for long periods of time. And while the boy had recovered much faster than anyone had figured, he was still tired often. Being at the brink of death seemed to do that to a person. More than a few times around Howard's room proved to be a bit much for the boy. He was still bedridden, more often than not.

Howard was the first to notice anything out of the ordinary.

They had been right in assuming that Duo was an orphan. Managing to pry that out of the quiet boy had taken some time but had finally been achieved. What Howard had also assumed was that the boy had no formal education. Certainly didn't believe the boy could read at such a high grade level already. Maslow's hierarchy of needs stated that needs like food and shelter came way before that of school and education.

Perhaps, had he thought back a little bit it wouldn't have surprised him.

But he could definitely tell that a few of his mechanical manuals for everything from circuitry to Mobile Suits had been moved, though it wasn't obvious from anyone else's standpoint. His copy of Tolkein's "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy was plain missing from its spot on the shelf.

A physics textbook was gone as well, and copies of his engineering texts had been moved along with a battered and taped up copy of Michael Crichton's "Sphere".

Perhaps that was why it was almost two minutes before Duo surfaced from the world of force-equals-mass-times-acceleration and refraction.

This psychics stuff wasn't so hard Duo decided as he flipped to the next page in the book and began to read, one finger skimming along lightly under the line he was reading. There were plenty of pictures and diagrams to help out when words just didn't make sense, or when those annoying letter filled formulas got in the way. He understood that every letter represented something different but when put together things would just disappear (derivation--he found out much later) with no real explanation as to where they had gone. He had to assume that was something you learned later in math, considering he had only started algebra before he left school.

Duo hadn't particularly liked school for the times he had been there. Sitting in a desk all day while someone endlessly repeated things which he got on the first try was not his ideal way to spend a day. Not to mention the fights with Fed kids and the name calling, which he often won at, but carried the heavy price tag of saddened eyes and gentle scoldings.

But learning was a whole other thing. He really liked to read, after he had learned how to and he loved to take things apart to see how they worked. He had been doing that long before he had gone to a school as a way to get rid of nervous energy on the street when it was too dark for people to be out that were worth pick pocketing.

He had cultivated this rather introverted personality for himself to remain unattached and underestimated. One of the first rules of survival on the street. Though he was disappointed to learn that not all his meekness was faked as he was still recovering. But he figured that the time to be leaning on someone else for support was over. It was time to move on.

But in the mean time, it couldn't hurt to do a little reading.

Propping the textbook on his crossed knees he blew his bangs out of the way, let them resettle and used his fingers to simulate what he had been reading about. Putting meaningless words into visual context.

He cursed himself for months after that for letting his guard fall so low.

"You've got it. But your right hand should be concave to get the effect you're reading about."

The book was gone before Howard could register where it was going to and he was on the receiving end of a glare tinged with so much fear that it could barely be called a glare. Duo had a tight fisted grip on his own hands and managed to sit loose and open as if ready for a fight.

Howard sighed quietly. "Kid. I thought we went over this before. We're not gonna throw you off. I thought you would have understood that meant you could read a book if you got bored too. Chill out."

"I don't need your charity," Duo bit out angrily.

Charity.

So that's what the kid thought this was. Privately Howard thought it wasn't that far off the base, if you were sticking to the traditional definition of the word. But he had never thought of it as that, and neither did he think of it as "saving" the boy from something. It was seamless and just seemed right. Calling it charity seemed so condescending.

Howard lowered himself gingerly into the chair in the room, joints creaking and popping in angry protest for the silent room to hear. The dehumidifier was on the fritz again and coupled with a long day of work, Howard could feel his age beginning to creep up on him.

"Look kid...I hadn't planned on discussing this plan with you just yet but I guess now's better than never. Besides...it's ultimately your decision even if this first part of the deal is gonna be a little forced."

Duo remained silent.

Howard continued.

"You stay here," he held up a hand to silence the protest already almost falling from the boy's lips, "at least until we get to L5 next Tuesday. That means sleeping here and taking the meds Kerry gives you--she says you should still be in bed for a while anyways. The rest of the time you're free to go anywhere on the ship and you'll eat meals with the rest of us in the mess hall."

"After that it's up to you."

Howard glanced up and despite the impossibility of it all felt the temperature go down several degrees when he looked into those violet-blue eyes. Anger and indignation practically radiated off the boy and his eyes were hardened ice flints that could cut diamond. Behind there was such a force of will and hatred of being forced into anything that Howard figured out then and there how Duo had survived that first night on their ship. He just wouldn't give up.

Of course this wasn't going to be easy. 'When was it ever?' Howard thought.

"Duo, you know and I know, you don't have anywhere to go once you get off this ship. I don't think of this as charity and neither does anybody else on this crew. Look at it as an investment for the future or just doing the right thing...it doesn't matter because they're the same in my mind. Look, if you can't stand it in a week when we dock on L5, no one on this ship will stop you from leaving. You have my word and theirs. But a bed, clothes, food and a paycheck might not be a bad way to spend the next couple of months at least."

"I could steal the same shit from you and it wouldn't make a difference." The sharp, too old voice retorted from the bed.

"You could," Howard mused exaggeratedly a wry glint coming into warm brown eyes. "Ya know I never really thought of it that way before."

Duo got the distinct impression he was being mocked a bit. His scowl deepened to the point where it was nearly comical (pretentious almost), yet deadly serious in the child's eyes.

"Just think about it a little okay? If the way you've been reading through those manuals and deciphering my physics textbooks is any indications, you'd probably be a great engineer. Think about it."

With an almost exaggerated huff the older man continued. "I got some work to do now."

And with no more than that abrupt ending, Howard turned away from the violet-blue eyed boy and bent over several schematics, making notes and muttering as he went.

Duo tried to hold that angry look of his. It had seemed like it would be so easy, five minutes ago. But the truth was, a little part inside of him; the part that whispered of companionship and friends, urged him to accept the idea. This part of the boy's conscience was particularly larger than many and craved for its owner's attention often. Duo was quite a sociable kid when stripped of all the natural and erected defenses he had built around himself.

Practicality would overrule anything else though. Street smarts first. Realistically he couldn't leave the port till at least Tuesday when they reached L5. By then, Duo figured, he would be off at least the majority of the antibiotics that he was still forced to down once a day. The rest would heal up on its own. As for stockpiling supplies, he already had clothes--a confusing but welcome surprise from the two guys Ray and Steve--but food would be harder to get.

But that was what he had been taught to do from birth. It wouldn't be hard to scrape by. He'd have to fight hard to establish a new territory for himself but it wasn't anything new either.

Violet-blue eyes darted almost guiltily down to the book expertly hiding inbetween the bunk and the wall. A worn spine, with weathered words printed on the once gleaming plastic surface. For all the mistrust and anger he had shown the people here, they had been kind to him. They had done far more for him than anyone had done for quite a while. A church was the last place he remembered being shown this much kindness.

Howard had offered him what sounded like a job with them, though it was vague. A chance to make some real money.

Not to mention the comfort of having a bed to call your own, even if it was for only a few weeks. No food problem, and a chance to read the rest of that physics book.

It wasn't like he had to decide on that right now. He still had almost a week of forced recovery to go.

Howard surreptitiously watched the kid from the corner of his eye and turned slightly to hide a grin in the well-worn shirt.

With a look of supreme determination on his face as if having come to some sort of grave decision about the meaning of life, Duo removed the book from the hiding place he had stuffed it in moments ago.

With careful hands pages fell back to where they had been moments ago and Duo was immersed in the world of lenses. Hands came up again and positioned themselves carefully. Frowning slightly, eyes darted back and forth as the child reviewed the conversation he had just had. With a little thought about the matter Duo turned his hand so that instead of a concave and a convex lens there were two concave lenses.

Howard thought he was being unobtrusive.

When Duo shot him a triumphant glance and an almost smirk before turning back to the book he knew that he had a lot to learn.

TBC

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