Chapter 34

Three days later.

Tuesday morning after the fight.

.

.

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Clement held his pocket watch in his hand and gazed over to where he had seen Kit come a running many times before day after day at this exact moment like clockwork, expecting the kid to come a huffing down the wooden dock, yet he was greeted by only the typical dockside ambiance and his anticipated wanting expectation.

"Clement, I don't think he's coming" Shipper #1527 said, breaking the silence. "And if you want me to arrive on time, I need to get going. Besides, it's a short run with a small load. I can handle it myself."

"Yeah, but it would have been the perfect run for him to get back to school in time" Clement wanted to shoot back, but he knew that the second he made this about the kid word would spread that he'd gone soft and not only would he become a target, the kid would too. He could attempt to spin it into a concern for organizing manpower, but then again there remained the variable of the pilot stating that he could handle it on his own. Clement sighed as he returned his watch to his pocket and shifted his cigar onto the other side of his mouth. "I suppose you're right. Get goin', I'll see ya tomorrow."

Shipper #1527 nodded and Clement dismissed him with a wave before turning to make his way to his own plane.

"Clement" spoke another Pilot who was resting upon a pile of crates yet to be loaded. "He's a kid. This is what kid's do. Don't take it to heart."

Clement drew back in surprise, whipping around to see where this familiar voice was coming from and who would dare utter such assumed accusations his way. "Excuse me, what?!"

"I said he's just a kid; assuming we're talking about your little sky-surfin'-fly-boy. Here today, gone tomorrow, a lot changes in a kid's world. It's not like you took him in or anything." The pilot sarcastically commented.

"When did you get here?! What's your designation, now?!" Clement demanded, his tone promising retribution for such condescending words hurled his way.

"Shipper #189…sir" he replied as if with not a care in the world, the last three letters falling from his lips as if it were the blood from a punch.

"And you think I give a king's royal shit about that brat?!" Clement exclaimed back more defensively than he realized; his demeanor betraying his words.

Shipper #189 continued to rest upon the cargo crate, his hands clasped on top of a book he was reading now lying flat upon his belly, his legs crossed out in front of him, and his face smiling a dirty smirk. "Sir, respectfully, please, drop the act. You care about that kid and every single person around here knows it, especially the pilots; you're no stranger to how quickly the rumor mill gets going around here." Clement went silent and his chest ran cold. He had not felt this feeling since he was but a young one himself, an older teen setting out in the world and taking his first risks. "You're playing a dangerous game here, Clement" Shipper #189 continued, "but, we work in a dangerous business, as you well know." Shipper #189 gestured to the dagger at Clement's side when uttering those last four words; Clement receiving the message loud and clear much to his disdain.

"Don't think that just because you're a higher-ranking pilot and have more time in this business than I do that you can disregard the chain of command" Clement spat back. "You still take orders from me and those I command."

"And you still throw your weight around when you feel threatened, just like you did when you were a teenager." Shipper #189 threw back.

Clement kept quiet. Though his fury was growing.

"Look, attachments are not a safe thing to have in this line of work" Shipper #189 advised. "If he's gone, he is gone. Just like anyone else who suddenly disappeared, let him go and move on!" Shipper #189 picked his book back up and continued reading expecting the conversation to have reached its intended conclusion.

"Really?" Clement asked dismayed by what he had just heard. "You honestly expect ME to do THAT?!"

"Of course" the small older man replied without looking up from his novel. He was an older goat, light grey in color, with short dark grey horns on his head, the lack of emotion in his words was astonishing to Clement, "is that so hard to believe?"

"Given whose saying it, yeah, it is. Especially when you couldn't do it yourself!" Clement accused, attempting to turn the situation around.

Shipper #189 looked up at Clement over his reading glasses and upon seeing that he was serious, marked his page, shut his book, swung his legs down, sat up, and removed his glasses. Waving his hand as he talked pointing to Clement and all around the dock and to planes as necessary to emphasize his points. "You showed up here, you were taken in, and you were given purpose, and you excelled at it."

"So then why is it so different with this kid? Huh?!" Clement interrupted.

"Times Change" Shipper #189 responded so calmly yet stern that Clement dare not interrupt him a second time. "That and you haven't taken him in from whatever raggedy ass shit home he goes back to every night. I went all the way with you, gave you everything I could. You're half-assing it with fly-boy though. And that's probably why he didn't show back up here. Now, I could be wrong, but I could be right. Either way, you can't be his friend any more than you can play "Dad". Either he has your protection and you raise him up the rest of the way and teach him everything you know, or he is a toy, a pet, a tool; any middle ground will only put a target on your back…and his too."

Clement considered the words of the man who raised him. He would be naïve to believe that things were the same now as they were two decades ago. Both 'The Exchange' and the world in general had changed vastly. What was seen as charity and recruitment back then was now beginning to be seen as weakness and an opportunity for the personal gain of others. He considered his demeanor and the day when he had been sent to cut off Kit's finger but instead managed to let him off with a simple pin-prick. He needed to make a display of power while his reputation was still recoverable. "Ya know Pops, you're right."

"Damnit son, I know I'm right, when have you ever known me to be wrong?!" Shipper #189 snapped back with a smile that widened across his face when struck by the obvious.

Clement shrugged and returned to the subject matter at hand. "Fair enough. But even if I were to just cast him off and let him go, we are still stuck with one problem." Shipper #189 looked at him expectantly. "He knows too much" Clement continued. "Safe houses, drop sites, schedules, and even specifics about some of the cargo; no matter how vague the information. I can't just let him go; child or not, he's still a liability."

"Ok. So, find him" Shipper #189 stated with his hand in the air as if to say "duh".

"I was about to suggest that, but there is something else." Clement said though squinted eyes and another puff of his cigar. "He's an official prospective member of 'The Exchange' and along with some of the minimal protections that offers, at this point he can no longer walk the fence between committing to us and agreeing to daily contracts like he's been doing." Clement said, explaining the situation to Shipper #189.

"Ok, so then either he joins us, or we "take care" of him. Either way we tie up a loose end." Shipper #189 concluded.

Clement said nothing, he only took the final puff from his cigar and nodded in agreement, flicking his used cigar butt into the water below.

Shipper #189 gave Clement a proud smile and reached up to place a hand on his shoulder, "Seems you did learn something from me after all."

"Just a little bit" Clement jokingly answered back.

-END CHAPTER 34-