Burnt to Ashes

Thanks for the reviews so far! As for Rommie and slipstream, I thought she couldn't navigate either but I think she slipstreamed in one episode. If not, well I apologise for the error. I had spare time so I wrote the second chapter.

Chapter Two

Rommie had carried the unconscious child into what was supposed to be her room. Where she ate and slept or at least, where she conserved energy.

She laid the child on the bed, a girl with dark hair. Her clothes were torn and dirty, her face and hands smudged with dirt.

Rommie found the medkit in a small cupboard, she didn't need it, it was for the passengers. The girl had a cut across her cheek, a red mark that stood out from her pale skin.

Just as she was about to reach over and inject the girl with nanobots, she jerked awake and sat up. Her blue eyes searched every corner of the room, looking for all possible exits, the only exit being the one behind Rommie.

Her gaze finally settled on Rommie and for a minute or two they just watched each other in silence.

While they were staring at each other Rommie managed to become very resolute. She would not let any feelings or emotions get in the way of her dealing with the problem of this child.

She stated calmly to the child, "You have boarded my vessel illegally and you will be handed over to the authorities on Nullarbor drift and most likely deported back to the planet of your origins."

The child, who looked maybe to be six or seven, now had a scared and puzzled look on her face. She had understood the first part but, "What does deport.. what does that word mean?"

"It means you will be sent back to where you came from"

The girls eyes filled with tears and Rommie steeled herself, she would not feel pity for this girl, she couldn't afford to feel anything.

The girl spoke, stumbling over her words as tears slid down her cheeks.

"But.. I can't go back there, I don't have anyone to go back to." She paused, then added, "And Mommy said that Daddy lives on the drift, that he might be there"

The girl looked pleadingly at Rommie and she momentarily gave in.

"When we get to the drift we will try to find your father. If we find him you can stay with him but if we don't you'll have to go back."

The girl had stopped crying, she just sniffled here and there. She seemed happy with the outcome.

Rommie decided that she had better clean the child up before they got to the station and heal the cut on her face.

The girl watched her warily to begin with but her tiredness overcame this and she babbled on to Rommie for a while.

"Mummy used to point to the sky and tell me Daddy was up there. She used to tell me stories about him while she was rocking Toby to sleep. My name Bridget. What's yours?"

"Rommie"

"When the sickness came to the crops, Mommy used to talk about Daddy more. She sent more messages to him. There wasn't much food then and Toby was very young, I couldn't really play with him but I rocked him."

"Mummy rocked him lots too. When he got really sick she held him all day and all night. He didn't cry much then, he was really quiet. Sometimes I wished that he would cry."

"I used to hold him when Mummy went to try and get food. I'd sing to him. Then Mummy came home, she didn't have much food, there wasn't much. She made something for us to eat and I kissed Toby goodnight. Then I went to bed."

"Mummy stayed up all night rocking Toby and singing softly to him. I stayed awake to listen. Mummy fell asleep when the sun came up. I think she had been crying. I went to kiss Toby good morning but he was asleep. Mommy woke up and told me Toby had gone to heaven."

"Some of the neighbours came that day. Toby was wrapped in a blanket on the bed. They buried him under the tree in the garden. Before he went to heaven I used to rock him there. It was quiet and in the shade."

"Not that long after that Mummy left again to find food. She said she'd be back before dark. I went to bed when I got tired though. She didn't come back next morning or the next day. There wasn't much food left."

"Before she left, she told me that if she didn't come back, that I should go and find Daddy. I knew which way the city was but it took me a long time to get there. And I had to hide from the people on the road cos some of them aren't nice."

Rommie listened in silence to Bridgets story. Not really knowing what to say. The child was just trying to fill up the silence.

"And when I got there, I went to the place where Mummy used to say the ships went to the stars. And I crept really quietly past all the people and hid in the box you found me in."

She looked up at Rommie expectantly. Waiting for Rommie to say something about her story. Rommie didn't know what to say. Her story was so filled with sadness yet the girl was trying to be so brave.

"Are you hungry?" Rommie recalled the girls comments about not having much food and about the famine.

The girl nodded and Rommie set about looking for some food she kept stored in case she was delayed and needed to feed the passengers.

She hoped that they'd find the girls father on the station and she didn't know what would happen if she didn't.

They'd be at the station in an hour. Rommie gave Bridget some food. Not too much though, she didn't want to girl to be sick. She settled the girl down on the bed.

She looked sleepy and her eyes kept closing. As Rommie turned to leave, she said quietly, "I miss Mummy and Toby"

Rommie wasn't sure what to say, she couldn't reassure the child. She didn't know what was going to happen.

"Don't worry, we'll find you father. If you need me, I won't be far away"

She headed back to the cockpit, they'd be docking soon.

How had this happened? How had she suddenly become entangled with the fate of this child? She had told herself she wouldn't let anything like this happen again. She didn't want to have to care for someone again.

She heard Bridget say something. At first she thought she was talking in her sleep but then she realised it was a prayer of some kind. It was a simple rhyme.

"I would be true for there are those who trust me

I would be pure for there are those who care

I would be strong for there is much to suffer

I would be brave for there is much to dare"

Rommie disengaged the autopilot, Bridgets words echoing through the ship.

Once upon a time, she had been a Highguard warship and those ideals were the ones she had lived by. And now she was no longer a warship and yet, those ideal still lived inside her. The past wasn't so easily forgotten.

. . .

Most of this chapter was about Bridgets past, as for the appearance of Dylan and co., it may happen but I'm not sure when. I hope your enjoying reading this because I'm enjoying writing it. At least it's a change from essay questions on Macbeth and Medea! Though who's to say Rommie won't get her revenge when Dylan does show up!