Sins of the Father

Harkness

Once we'd straightened out the whole mess with the stolen fruit, I sent the kid on her way with a strict admonition not to do that again, nor steal from anyone else in Rivet City. She'd given me a wide eyed look with those big green eyes of hers that told me she understood what would happen if I caught her breaking the law on my boat again. The same big green eyes that had hit me like a punch to the gut when I first met her, outside the main door to the marketplace. As she crossed the bridge I could just tell she was gonna be a pain in my ass before too long. This girl looked as though trouble followed her around like a lost puppy.

Big green eyes, a wide open face with freckles scattered across the bridge of her nose, and a body that looked too damn good, even in the rather bulky armor she wore, armor that obviously wasn't made for her. Removing her helmet as she drew close, I could see that she had short, shaggy hair in a vivid shade of purple that I was sure wasn't natural. But, then again, you never know with some people's parents. Kid looked like she was about nineteen, which I later found out was spot on, but she had a Chinese assault rifle slung over her shoulder in a manner that said she knew what to do with it.

"I'm looking for my father," she had said, when I asked her what her business in Rivet City was.

"And who might your father be? If he lives on this boat, I know him," I said.

"His name is James. Dr. James Miraven. Older man with gray hair and a beard. And no, he doesn't live here. He came here to see Doctor Li."

It took me a moment to respond to what she said; I was too busy staring at her lips when she spoke. Soft, pink, kissable lips. I lost myself for a moment imagining them wrapped around my…whoa! Just because I hadn't gotten laid in far too long, my mind was going places it definitely didn't need to be going. Down, killer, I told myself. Remember, you've seen too many guys get their heads blown off because they were too busy staring at a nice piece of ass to see what was sneaking up behind them. Besides, she's somebody's daughter, and you're what, like twice her age? How damaged would she have to be to get involved with you anyway?

She shifted a little under my gaze, straightening her spine, waiting for me to answer her. The movement drew my attention to her breasts, and it was damn hard to focus on the conversation when she took a deep breath. "Doctor Li, eh? Well then I guess you'd have to ask Doctor Li for more information. I haven't seen your father. He probably came in while I was off duty."

She stared at me with those wide green eyes, looking a bit lost and sad. I relented a bit and tried to make my tone friendlier. "Go on up, then. She's probably in the science lab." And then, remembering that I thought she was gonna be trouble, I said more harshly, "But keep your nose clean, you hear me? You make trouble on my boat; I'll throw you out the nearest porthole."

"Got it," she stammered. "Thanks for the help."

"Carry on then," I growled. She walked past me toward the marketplace and I couldn't help but turn and stare at her retreating backside. Damn, I bet I could bounce a bottlecap off that ass. An old line I'd heard once flashed into my head, 'I hate to see you leave, but I love to watch you walk away.'

That same ass had almost gotten me in big trouble when we were alone in my office. I had indulged in a little groping when she lost her balance as the boat shifted in the water. I was sure she was going to call me on it, but other than getting a little red in the face, she didn't seem to notice. Then I remembered that Madison Li had insisted she be punished, so I made sure she noticed when I smacked her ass on her way out of my office. I just couldn't resist another handful, since I didn't think she'd be letting me bounce a bottlecap off it any time soon. She turned around to give me a dirty look, but something in her gaze said that it didn't bother her as much as it should have, even though she was blushing. Had I bitten off more than I could chew? The kid's about as menacing as a lollipop, speaking of things I wanted to lick all over, but I had to remind myself, her body count might be higher than mine. She said she came from Vault 101 by way of Megaton, and there's a hell of a lot of assholes that need killing between here and there.

I waited a few minutes after ushering the kid out of my office before going down to the science lab, figuring that was the last place I'd find her right now. I really didn't want to listen to Madison bitch anymore, but thought I'd better get that conversation out of the way before she had a chance to find something else to complain about.

"Well, Harkness, did you punish her for stealing?" she demanded the minute my boots hit the deck plating inside the door to the lab.

"She won't do it again, Madison."

"She'd better not do it again. I won't tolerate scummy little thieves in my lab. But that's not what I asked. Did you punish her?"

"I spanked her," I said, dead serious, but Madison seemed to think I was joking.

"I don't want to hear about your sexual fantasies," she grimaced. "I just want to know what you're going to do about her. I've worked very hard on the hydroponics project, and to have some wastelander stealing the sweat of my brow is intolerable, even if she is James' daughter." She'd gotten herself worked up by this point, unreasonably so, I thought.

"Calm down, Madison," I said. "She'll be paying you whatever you think is fair for the fruit she stole, but other than that, I don't think anything else needs to be done. She apologized for stealing, and she won't do it again. You're ready to crucify her over one little indiscretion." I gave her a narrow-eyed look. "What's this really about? You can't be this upset over one piece of fruit. You can take it out of my ration if it makes you feel better."

Madison turned away from me, so I couldn't see her expression. "I'm upset about James," she said.

"The kid's father." This wasn't a question; I already knew that he'd been to see Madison, about what, I had no idea. All that sciency bullshit wasn't really my area of expertise.

"Yes. The kid's father, and former colleague of mine on a very important project." She sighed heavily. "I was in love with him once, you know? But he loved Catherine, not me, so I stepped aside gracefully. Then when she died after giving birth to that little shit out there, James fell apart. I spent months pulling him out of the bottle of scotch he was determined to drown himself in, and what thanks do I get? He abandoned the project, and me, and went god knows where, only to show up twenty years later and act like he never left."

"Are you really surprised, Madison?" I asked quietly. "After all, he abandoned his own kid to the tender mercies of his vault's overseer; a man he knew took the duties of his office way too seriously. I asked around about her a bit, and rumor has it she almost died at the hands of that power crazed man who wanted to punish her for the sins of her father. Sound familiar?"

Madison gave me a helpless look. "I know, I know, I'm overreacting. It's just…James says he wants to restart Project Purity and then runs off to the Jefferson Memorial, and next thing I know, his little girl is in my lab, stealing my fruit and asking uncomfortable questions about her daddy. And looking at me with those eyes. His eyes."

I felt bad for her, I really did. Nobody likes to have their life disrupted by a ghost from the past. But I couldn't let her keep taking it out on the kid. "Look, Madison, I'm sorry the kid's dad upset you, but you can't punish her for something her father did to you twenty years ago. I'll keep her out of your lab, and lets all try not to kill each other, okay. It's a real bitch getting blood off the deck plating."

"Alright, Harkness, I'll let it go, for now," Madison said.

"Anything else I can do for you while I'm here?" I asked, even though I just wanted to get up to my small room off the ship's bridge and catch some shut eye.

"There's some crazy doctor named Zimmer who's been hanging around my lab with his 'bodyguard,' asking about some android he thinks is on the ship…"