Aquavy Orphanage

"Billy! You expectin' guests?"

Billy looked up from the child he was helping fix a toy wagon with, and glanced over at his

father. Jesiah, looking older than his fifty-five years, simply pointed north. Shading his eyes, Billy

looked out at the ocean, expecting to see a boat coming in, but then he heard the still-familiar thrum

of pressure engines moving something very large. Looking up, he saw the unmistakable form of the

Yggdrasil III loop around in a tight curve that would settle the immense ship less than half a klom

away from the orphanage itself.

Billy grinned and looked over at his father. "No, but it sure feels good to see that old hulk

still in the air. Looks a bit beat up too. Maybe Bart tried to find out why there was a mountain goat

in the middle of a cloud."

Jesiah only laughed at the mental image. "Jeez kid. You got your humour back, but it's still

dry. I think I'll sneak a drink out of the fridge and check on Prim. You gonna wait out here?"

"I think so. By the way, bring out a second glassful. If I'm right, that's Bart's piloting, and

I'd guess that you'll be wanting to put Sig in his cups as soon as possible."

Jesiah grinned, chuckling dryly. "I'd like to, but Sig's still in Bledavik. I'll be back out in

five." With that comment, Jesiah disappeared into the orphanage, muttering under his breath for

some reason. Billy only smiled, wiping some sweat away from his eyes. Clad in casual slacks and a

t-shirt, Billy looked much different from his Etone days, as he had bulked up appreciably by

working to repair and expand the orphanage with the help of his father and sister.

"Billy?" The quiet voice allowed Billy to turn away from the sight of the big Sky Cruiser's

landing, and he smiled at Primera, who had, once again, managed to sneak up on him.

"Hey sis. Looks like Bart and Margie are here for a visit. Do you want to greet them, or

should I?"

Primera smiled and looked up at her tall brother. "We both should."

Billy could only smile as he noticed the Yggdrasil settle to the ground in a cloud of dust.

"Well, they're going to be here in a few minutes, so don't take too much time in cleaning that blotch

of muck off of your face."

Primera frowned, but shrugged. In the last few years, she had revealed a knowledge and skill

with machines that rivalled Maria Balthasar's, and the two young women, when they saw each other

once or twice each year, instantly started up on the one-upmanship games by bragging about their

respective creations. It was very hard to believe that Primera could be so talkative as well,

considering that she had remained silent for four years after her mother had been killed by reapers.

Billy smiled as he ruffled his sister's hair, and got a return tug on his ponytail as a response.

"Scoot sis. I'll just finish fixing the wagon, then I'll be cleaning up a bit."

Primera nodded, smiling. "It will be nice to see everyone again."

Billy chuckled, nodding. "So long as dad doesn't get Bart sloshed in the first ten minutes.

It'd be nice to talk to Bart without having to punch through either a drunken haze or a hangover."

Primera simply giggled, then disappeared as quietly as she appeared. Billy smiled, and

continued to hammer away at the damaged wagon wheel, slowly straightening out the metal rim so

he could finish his repair job. Soon, a shadow fell over him, and Billy nodded an acknowledgement

as he finished hammering out the dent that had almost ruined the wagon.

"Hey Billy. How's life treating you?"

Billy looked over at Bart and smiled slightly. "Pretty good. Dad's mellowed out, Prim's

speaking more and more, and the kids are happy. So, what's up with you? Still flying around and

exploring?"

Bart shrugged, smiling sheepishly. "A bit. Margie and I are spending more time at Fort

Jasper though. Citan actually asked us to head out to the Zeobim Ruins to check out some strange

readings from a scanner that he had left in there."

Billy raised an eyebrow as he quickly placed the wheel on the wagon's axle, hammering it in

tightly and spinning the wheel a few times to make sure that it worked. "And? Did you find

anything?"

Bart shook his head. "Other than a dozen destroyed gears, several dead bodies, and

Crescens? Nope."

"Wait a sec. Crescens? Did you find her?" Billy perked up almost instantly at the mention of

Emeralda's gear, as it had been missing for almost as long as the mysterious nano-colony had been.

"Nope. Wish I did though." Bart sat down on the porch steps, looking at the younger man.

"You ever notice that she could light up a room when she smiled?"

Billy nodded. "Yep. She didn't smile that much though. Asked a lot of questions though."

Bart grinned, nodding. "You see when she arm-wrestled Rico?"

"Yeah. Never thought that someone who looked like a nine-year old could actually launch

the old brute. Then again, you should have seen your face when she grew up."

Bart grinned sheepishly. "It wasn't my face I was concerned about at the time. Anyhow, I'd

better see Jes and Prim too. They might not like it too much if I only ask you the million-gold

question."

Billy nodded, then looked up and smiled. "Well, considering that we're all here, you may as

well speak said question."

Bart looked behind him and smiled. "Hey Jessie, Prim. You're looking good."

Jesiah nodded, sitting down next to Billy, and offering a glass full of something that smelled

like mulled wine, and was probably stronger. Bart shook his head. "Sorry Jessie. Need to keep my

brain in working order this time. We'll be heading north soon, and I'll need to keep my head clear so

we can navigate the crosswinds near Merkavah's bits and pieces."

Jessie shrugged in response, sipping at his own glass of warmed fruit juice. "Your loss kid.

You'd need to be half-drunk to fly through those winds."

"I was sober last time, thank you very much. Besides, I have a family-to-be to worry about."

Billy looked at Bart, then smiled and shook Bart's hand. "Congratulations. When's she

due?"

"Seven months. You're the first ones of the old group to know. So, you wanna come with? If

Em's not at Merkavah, we'll head off to Kislev, followed up by Lahan and Bledavik."

Jesiah nodded, followed up by Billy and Prim. "Sounds like fun. Besides, I'd bet Rico would

want out of the office before he kills someone."

Billy stood up, smiling broadly. "Well, I'll go and tell Mickey that he's going to have to take

care of the place for a week or so. That, and we'd better snag our guns." He then disappeared into

the orphanage.

Bart looked over at Jesiah and Prim, who were sitting side by side, and smiled. "I think

you'd better give me that drink, Jessie. I won't want to see what Billy's going to do when he sees

what happened to his old room on the ship."

Jesiah laughed as he handed over the drink.