Chapter 6: Adulting

"Nightfall, have you seen Ash?"

"She and Chuckie are with Little Cato watching over Avocato."

Gary froze, then turned in his pilot's chair to face her at navigation. "Please tell me you told her not tell Little Cato which of his dad's body parts she wants to keep if he dies."

Calmness itself, Nightfall checked her instruments before saying, "I told her. No idea if she'll listen. She had a list."

Gary groaned and rubbed his head. "Where's Fox?"

"Annoying Bodek."

"So, we're the ones making all the decisions here? That's crazy!"

She looked up. "It's almost like we're adults, huh?"

"Speak for yourself."

"Oh, I am."

"All this decision-making stuff is giving me a rash."

"We haven't decided anything yet."

"It's pre-emptive."

They had settled into an uneasy routine as they tried to figure out the best course of action for Avocato and themselves. The Scoti, whose name, as it turned out, was Bodek (a fact he volunteered after growing tired of being addressed as 'hey, you' and 'yo, jerk'), was always their last consideration, but not the least important. They didn't want to let him go, but they certainly didn't want to kill him (with Little Cato as the only holdout) or keep him. It was a quandary. To compound their issues, they badly needed supplies – food, medicines, and parts for the Crimson Light.

It made them nervous that the spacewaves were alive with rumor and chatter that Avocato was dead, lost with the Kalibar. Some of the messages were celebratory at the notion, some claimed he deserved a worse end, only a few were anxious about what might happen next. There was no mention of Scoti involvement or a Death Knell or the possibility that the leader in question had survived. Still, the venom spilling over the comm lines was highly disturbing and drove home the fact that they needed to choose their next step with great care. Gary didn't need to be told (though HUE told him anyway, old habits dying hard) that if anyone found out they were harboring the second-in-command of the Lord Commander's empire, they'd be a moving target for half the galaxy.

"We've got several likely planets close by." Nightfall scrolled through them on the 3-D projector. "Joom, Belatrum Sega, and Zee Secundus are the closest inhabited planets where we can resupply. Joom is mostly desert and supplies are expensive as hell since everything but sand is imported. Zee Secundus is probably our best bet."

"I'm hearing a but."

"No but."

"But. Definitely a but."

"We have to figure out what we're going to do with Bodek. And no, I will not entertain your kid's suggestion we find a planet with slavery and sell him."

"Heck chicklets, he's a little savage sometimes." He couldn't help but feel a swell of pride for seeing his son the demon of vengeance in action.

"Ventrexians know how to carry a grudge. Just ask the Tryvuulians. So. No Belatrum Sega."

"Slavery?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. Zee Secundus it is. I love this decision. What's it like?"

Nightfall shrugged. "Just another planet, not too unlike earth, just ten years younger. Things'll still cost a chunk of change, but hey, money we got."

One of the few things they had going for them was they had plenty of untraceable currency, courtesy of Clarence. That greedy, grasping, selfish little pimple had scammed a fair number of people over the years, and the proceeds were stashed in various spots around the ship. The amount had astonished them all, including Fox and Ash. Not wanting KVN to get into it -because everyone knew if he got his pincers on it, he would just buy something expensive and stupid - Nightfall had quietly coordinated with AVA to gather all the money and lock it in the room she shared with Ash – a place KVN was strictly forbidden to enter.

"We'll want to fully stock and refuel the ship, too," she continued. "It might take a few days to get everything we need, but it'll be worth it once we get back to where we belong – which, by the way, is another problem we need to address. We've also got a whole laundry list of repairs and maintenance to take care of, including a new coil for the lightfold engine. Ours developed a hairline crack – it's still usable, but I don't want to trust it when I don't have to. We'll have to have parts for the ship made, or maybe we can adapt existing parts. She's still brand new in our time, but the tech is pretty much the same. It won't come cheap, but," she shrugged, "not our money. I'll bring Ash and Fox with me, and Chuckie so we can figure out what he eats. You and Little Cato are going to have to stay on the ship. He probably won't want to leave anyway with his father here, but as the son of a military dictator, he might be recognized. And you've got too big a bounty on you to risk being seen even ten years in the past."

"But . . ."

"I'll bring you some street meat, even if I have to kill it and roast it myself."

"Temptress. You know my kryptonite. You win. I'll guard the ship."

"No one can find out Avocato is here. Little Cato's right. A lot of people want him dead. We don't need more assassins gunning for him and you."

"So KVN's staying, too?" His disappointment was visible, but KVN's inability to shut up was well documented.

"We'll see. AVA, get me a shopping list started and plot a course to Zee Secundus. Somewhere a little backwater might be safer."

"Where we can get purple yam stuff and coffee," he added.

Nightfall sighed, but said nothing. No one wanted to burst Gary's bubble and tell him what his favorite dish of the week was really made of. There was an unspoken pact amongst the crew to leave him thinking he was eating yams. Anything else would have been cruel.

"On it," AVA responded. "Course laid in. We'll be landing in an hour."

"I'll go find all the money that's more than ten years old," said Nightfall. "I'd hate to come this far and get accused of being a bad counterfeiter."

"Hadn't thought of that. That would suck. I'll go run down the shopping list for sickbay to make sure we don't miss anything."

"And check on Avocato."

"And that."

"And your kid."

"Him, too."

"And Ash," she reminded with sing-song voice and a warning look.

Gary pursed his lips and tried not to smile. "I'll knock first."