Space Junk

William Shakespeare: It is a wise father that knows own child.

Thucydides: We secure our friends not by accepting favors but by doing them.

Howard walked down the hallways of the Anubis, his personal ship. It was now the biggest ship in the Sweepers Fleet. It was only a third of the Peacemillion but it was more than serving its purpose.

He paused outside one particular cabin. The Kid was in there asleep after a long drawn out conference with Winner. He shook his head in amazement, he still did not know how the Kid had gotten Quatre Winner to give in to giving him an old research satellite that had been disbanded five years ago, but somehow he had. He had even managed to receive money for repairs and additions to the satellite.

Howard knew what the satellite would be used for in the up coming months. The Sweepers had already received orders to procure parts for the additions and repairs to the satellite and he already had crews on it installing cloaking shields among other illegal specialties. The Kid had ordered it to be made into a permanent Sweeper base for downtime and a place to make repairs and get supplies. But it would also be used to house anyone or anything the Kid wanted kept there.

"Hey boss," Mac, the head mechanic called out. "We've got a call from the Bolt. She's a bit banged up from encountering a Preventer skiff."

"Did she employ her cloaking shields?" Howard asked with a frown.

"I don't think so," Mac shrugged. "The new kid, Damian, is in charge of the ship. I just think he got spooked."

"Give him our coordinates," Howard instructed. "Have him dock with us and make the repairs pronto. When they dock tell him I want to see him in my quarters."

"Yes sir, boss-man," Mac grinned.

"Now get back to work," Howard waved his hand.

Mac spun on his heal and headed back down the hallway whistling some limerick under his breath. Howard turned back to the Kid's bunk area. Normally he would not disrupt his downtime but this was important. He had to go over the plans to the satellite among other things.

He tapped softly on the door. He heard the few cuss words emitted from the other side of the door.

"Watch your mouth boy," Howard commanded.

"Oh it's you Howie," The door opened to reveal a slightly more disheveled Shinigami. "I was just catching up on some sleep. What can I do for you?"

"I've got the plans for the satellite in my quarters," Howard adjusted his sunglasses. "I thought you might want to take a look at them. And the Bolt had some troubles earlier on today."

"Isn't a new kid in command?" Shinigami was much more awake now, the change almost startling.

"Yeah," Howard admitted. "He goofed up royally. I think I'm going to replace him with Ginger. She's been on the Anubis for three years now."

"She's the one in the communications department right?" Shinigami moved out into the hallway and closed his door.

"That's her," Howard said.

"She'll do good," Shinigami nodded. "Let's go have a look at these plans then."

Howard could only nod. Sometimes he forgot how different his Kid was from the last time he had seen him. He led the way down the bright corridors. A few people were walking about waiting for their shift change but they were not lazy, just restless. Word had gotten around about the Bolt and while it was not unusual for a ship to get some damage it was a novice mistake, something that should never have happened. The more experienced hands could only shake their heads at the news while the newbie's shivered at the thought of running into Preventers in space.

In this line of work though a commander had to be prepared for everything and anything or his men would not trust him. Even if the commander did not know the answer he had to act like he did, he had to be a leader or people panicked. And panic in space cost more lives than it helped.

Shinigami and Howard poured over the plans for the satellite. Howard could tell that his employer was pleased with the additions they were planning. Howard had redesigned the cloaking systems specifically for the satellite. It was not quite the same as helping to design a Gundam but it was something, certainly nothing to scoff at. He was pleased with his accomplishment in such a short amount of time. Many sleepless nights had been spent re-modeling the cloaking shields and the additions but it was worth it.

"These look really good old man," Shinigami leaned back from the table. "Really good. How long do you think it will take to accomplish all this?"

"If we can get all the materials by the end of the month," Howard speculated. "It will probably take another two or three months. I'll have crews working around the clock. I was thinking of taking the crew of the Bolt and putting them to work on the satellite until I can be sure of Ginger."

Shinigami nodded. He could see Howard's vision just as Howard could see his pleasure in the satellite.

Howard wondered how many people in the Underworld had their very own Fleet of pirate ships at their beck and call, or how many had their own formerly owned Winner satellite at their disposal. He was not bitter about being under Shinigami's thumb but he was not pleased with it either. Still, he knew that serving Shinigami was the best thing that he could use his Fleet for in times of peace unless they planned to become out and out pirates again. What they were doing was noble and good. He and his men believed in that.

He knew that he would not change anything. And he was mostly in control of the Sweepers, only because Shinigami had so many other things to see to. Howard studied the figure before him.

Once again the Kid was getting too skinny. Shinigami had always been waif like but right now he was practically skin and bones. And if the circles under his eyes and their bloodshot state were any indication he was not sleeping well either. Howard kept his sigh from escaping his lips. At least for a short time his Kid was at home where he could have some downtime before heading off to save the world again. He hoped that someone would kindly remember this sacrifice in later years to come, hoped that it would be worth the pain and aggravations it was costing so many.

"Come on over here," Howard walked to his tiny galley in his quarters. "I've got all this food in here. Marble wouldn't leave well enough alone when he loaded up my galley in here. I can't eat it all before it goes bad."

Shinigami plopped himself down in front of the tiny table. Howard heated up a large tub of spaghetti in his microwave. He pulled out a bottle of milk and a loaf of Marble's special garlic bread. He hoped that he would have a little time to fatten his Kid up before he had to move on. He obviously needed it.

Howard filled a large plate with steaming pasta and bread and set it and a large glass of milk before the Kid. Shinigami smiled at the familiar scents, one of his favorite dishes if Marble was cooking.

"Eat up boy," Howard said gruffly.

Shinigami needed no second promptings. He cleaned his plate and another along with half the loaf of bread. The old crew members that were on the Anubis would be pleased to see him eat so much. Howard helped himself to a sample of Marbles cooking but mostly he watched Shinigami wolf the food down. He hoped that the Kid would fill out a little more and stop looking so much like a walking skeleton.

"Hey Kid," Howard said after Shinigami had almost stopped eating. "After this you should get some more sleep. I'm planning on hitting the hay myself. There's not much else that needs to be done tonight, nothing that can't wait until morning."

"That sounds like a good idea," Shinigami tilted his head to the side. "Mind if I crash on the fold out?"

"That's fine by me," Howard smiled. "You're probably too weighted down after all that food to walk all the way back to your bunk."

"You're right about that Howie," Shinigami folding his hands over his stomach.

"Night Kid," Howard moved off to his bedroom.

Howard did not turn around to make sure that the Kid really was going to sleep. He would not appreciate it. Shinigami was long past being a child and Howard knew better than to make him feel like one. He could not help but worry when he was out there on his own though. Shinigami was the closest thing he had to a son, the closest thing many of them had to a kid around here. At least he was close enough to hear any nightmares the Kid might have.

He remembered how they sometimes plagued Shinigami, before he had permanently become Shinigami. Howard had not heard any nightmares out of him for a long time, only saw the internal ones he battled with daily. In most ways those were the worst ones.

He felt old as he lay on his bed. Older than he had in a long time and he hoped it was not a sign of something bad to come. His Shinigami had enough to deal with. The world's demons never seemed to rest, did they?

But he had known all of this before he had signed over his soul and the Sweepers to this mad scheme. There were always demons, always nightmares out there to contend with and Shinigami could only do so much.