Hello. I wanted to state some things. I haven't been on for some time. Basically I moved to another archive. I find bothersome to publish on this website. It is complex and the tags it employs are too few. I said that there was no point in going on if there were no one interest in this story because for fans of Skeleton Crew or of the Jod/Fern couple, it is nearly impossible to find and it is a pity that there are so few story on the show. I'm putting up chapter 2 for the 9 people who read this and my only one reviewer. I invite you to leave something to tell me you want to read more.
Before Skeleton Crew I hadn't written anything in 5 years. Well, I wrote but I never finished anything. It was like the show ignited something in me after a long time. I must admit that Jude Law is partly responsible, he is a sight to behold (I can afford to say it because he is the same age as my husband). I have been trying to write something about soulmates and soulmarks for some time but nothing came out and then … this.
About the couple: I watched again the first episode and Fern is the only one who doesn't introduce herself to Jod. On air we never hear her say her name to him. On episode 4, when Jod save them, she is the only one who doesn't hug him. We never see her touching him. I think that, had Jod not betrayed them, they may have settled in a mentor-student dynamic: she is the only one who has something in common with him. She is a rebel with a "fake it till you make it" attitude and she has a way to twist words to make people believe what she wants them to believe.
II
Jod was thinking feverishly as the children debated what, exactly, a mint was. At the words "money factory" and "treasure planet" he felt a shiver of pleasure pervade him. The stroke of luck he had been waiting for a lifetime, the treasure that every pirate dreamed of, was finally within his gasp.
At last, it was time to play the card he had kept up his sleeve, his ace to take control of the ship and the droid that would lead him to his well-deserved loot. For days he had left control to Fern, allowing her to boss him around using the droid as a stick to threaten him if he didn't jump when she said frog. Now it was his turn to impose his will on her.
She, even with his back turned on her, seemed somehow to sense that something had changed.
- Jod, keep your promise in mind: you have to take us home if you want the reward.
Fern's voice was confident, perhaps she had not yet realized that she had lost.
After a prolonged silence, the man turned again to face them, observing the four children he had been playing nanny to for the last few days. Fern hadn't been a bad captain, all things considered. The fact that she had taken obvious pleasure in giving him orders had bothered him a lot, but he had also felt admiration for how she had handled the crisis on At Achrann. The way she had improvised and snatched the information from the droid to get them to that point had been a pure stroke of genius and Jod had to admit, at least with himself, that he would have never come up with it. He had found it almost touching how her eyes had been filled with gratitude and hope, when he had saved them from the Troiks. She had been on her way to trust him and he now almost regretted crushing that budding hope under his boot. However, the treasure was more important than anything, even than her.
- I invoke my right to half of the captain's property, including the command, according to the code.
She shook her head and widened her eyes, realizing what he was about to reveal.
- On what ba-basis do you claim command?
The droid, SM-33, asked.
-Don't do that.
She begged him in a faint voice but he ignored her.
- I am the captain's soulmate and therefore, having the right to half of everything she owns, I claim command.
The children turned to Fern in disbelief, clamouring for explanations and asking her to deny Jod's claim.
-I'm sorry...
The girl tried to defend herself, facing her friends.
-.. I didn't know how to tell you.
- The captain does not deny Jod's claim.
- Of course I deny it!
She replied hastily.
- Do you deny that he is your soulmate?
The droid asked her to clarify, extending a mechanical arm menacingly toward the man.
- He is, unfortunately, my soulmate. I can't deny it. What I strongly reject is his claim to command!
-Ah.
The droid said, managing to sound disappointed despite being a machine.
- In this case you have to work it out between each other and reach an agreement. Until this happens, the title of captain will remain vacant.
-What?
The girl screamed, addressing SM-33.
-33! I'm the captain!
-I'm sorry.
The droid metallic voice replied.
- I stick to the code.
Jod put a hand on the handle of his dagger.
- Say that you yield.
He advanced indolently, without haste and without concern, sure of the advantage he had.
- Forget it!
Fern was red in the face and furious. She clenched her fists and Jod regretted having to use violence. But he had not really believed that she would give up without a fight.
- We could fight to the death but I don't want to. I don't want to kill you, Fern.
With a threatening gesture he drew his weapon.
- Say that you yield.
Fern turned her back to him and he let her weigh her options and come to the only conclusion: that she couldn't fight and that, even if she tried, she could never win.
He advanced until he was less than a meter from her, ignoring the other three who watched the scene petrified and the droid who waited for a winner to emerge.
- Yield.
He ordered her again.
In a move that took him by surprise, she grasped a golden scepter from Rennod's treasure with both hands and swing it aiming for his head. Jod managed to step back just in time to dodge it and when she tried to hit him again, he raised a hand and grabbed the improvised weapon with the Force, immobilizing it and then sending it flying out of the girl's hands to the ground, where it landed with a thud.
As she turned to watch the scepter shoot away, Jod reached out and grabbed her by the shoulder, pulling her towards him and encircling her shoulders with his arm, imprisoning her against his chest. He weaved the sharp dagger in front of her face, ignoring her frightened sob and the way she trembled under his arm. He bent down until his breath stirred the fine hair on her forehead.
- I didn't want to come to this. You're forcing me! Say that you yield, say it!
- You're my soulmate, you can't hurt me!
Fern's voice was filled with pain and disappointment and she trembled as if she was trying to hold back tears. She raised her hands and grabbed onto the arm that imprisoned her, tugging at it, trying to pull it away from her throat. One of her hands came into contact with his wrist, between the edge of the sleeve of his coat and the glove he was wearing. It was as if a strong charge of current had passed through his body and the same thing must have happened to her because her legs gave way and she leaned against her chest instead of trying to move away. Jod staggered breathlessly for a moment. He had heard of it but he never witnessed it, in fact he had not really believed it was possible until it had happened to him: it was a well known fact that the first contact, skin on skin, with one's soulmate was special and gave the couple the certainty of having really identified the other half of themselves. The man felt... different, revived. His extremities tingled, and he became acutely aware of Fern's every breath, the smell of dust and sweat that emanated from her skin, and how smooth her hair was under his lips. The arm that encircled her became a vice. Suddenly the idea of breaking that contact had become intolerable. Jod found himself giggling, despite the situation. He felt drunk even if he had had only one cocktail and many hours before.
When he became again aware of what was happening around him, he realized that Wim had taken advantage of his moment of weakness to take a lightsaber from who knows where. Of all the things Rennod had accumulated in his hideout, a lightsaber was definitely the last Jod would have expected to find. The boy stepped forward with a determined expression and holding the hilt as he had surely seen it wielded by his heroes in the stories he loved to read so much. Too bad though, Jod immediately noticed, he was handling it backwards, blade down.
- Careful Wim, it's not one of your stories.
He warned him, but the boy decided to ignore him. Jod considered alerting him to the mistake he was making: if he activated it, he risked cutting off his own foot. Win pressed the power button, and the blue light from the blade flashed down, narrowly missing his foot. With a frightened scream the child let go of the hilt that fell and bounced away from him. Realizing that he was unarmed, the young boy joined his friends, who had crouched on the ground, trembling.
Jod turned all his attention back to Fern.
- Go ahead, say it! You're just wasting my time. We both know you can't win.
- What we both know is that you won't use that dagger on me!
She replied in a trembling voice.
- It's true...
He was forced to admit. Somehow, for all his certainties about not wanting their bond and not wanting her, she had now become part of the things that were necessary for his well-being, just one step below the treasure he craved so much.
- … You're my soulmate and I won't kill you. But are you willing to bet their lives?
With the blade he pointed to the three children who were clutching each other in fear.
- There are three of them. Which one do you love the least? Which one will I kill first?
He took an intimidating step towards them, dragging her with him and the three children screamed when they realized the danger they were in.
-No! Please don't hurt them!
Fern pleaded with him in a broken voice.
- We are just children, you can't! It's not fair!
Jod pressed his cheek to her head, inhaling deeply.
- The galaxy is not fair, Fern. There is no justice, anywhere. You had to learn it sooner or later. Now... Say the words I want to hear you say and none of them will get hurt. It's up to you, little one.
Slumping against him again, surrendering to the inevitable, he heard her finally admit her defeat.
- I yield, you are the captain.
With a sigh of relief, Jod lowered his dagger and relaxed his grip on the girl. She moved forward, probably to join her friends.
-Where do you think you're going?
With a tug Jod pressed her back against his chest and turned, making her move with him, towards the droid.
- I'm sorry Fern. Jod is the new captain.
-Good!
He exclaimed and then, with the tip of the blade, he detached the constriction bolt that prevented 33 from fighting.
-Orders, captain?
- Find another way out of here and...
He gestured towards the three children.
- … apprehend them. Accusation: mutiny.
-Yes, captain. And her?
The droid asked, pointing to the little girl held by the new captain of the Onyx Cinder.
- No, not her. Leave her to me.
Jod declared, wrapping his other arm too around Fern, in a parody of a hug and dropping a kiss on her forehead.
At that moment Wim let out a shout of exultation, making all three of them turn around.
- Wait, I get it!
The boy punched the chair that triggered the trap and the floor under the three children gave way, causing them to fall amidst their and Fern's screams. Jod had to hold her back because she had tried to wriggle out of his grasp to reach her companions.
- No! KB, Wim, Neel!
When the trapdoor closed again, she turned frantically towards the droid
- 33! Where does that trapdoor lead?
The droid seemed to think about it.
- Once upon a time it led to the frozen lake at the foot of the mountain. Those who fell into it would drown or freeze to death.
He informed them in a cheerful voice.
Fern burst into desperate tears and Jod let her slide to the ground, covering her face. The man crouched, balancing on his toes.
- I'm sorry Fern. They were your friends and you loved them, but they decided their fate by themselves.
She lifted her tear-streaked face to look at him with an incredulous expression that quickly turned angry.
- It's all your fault!
She screamed in his face with a voice full of hatred.
- Hey, now wait a moment...
- They wouldn't have died if you hadn't betrayed us!
She threw himself at him, hitting him with her fists. Jod allowed her to deliver a first blow to his chest and then captured her wrists.
-Listen to me! It wasn't me who killed them! Wim set the trap! My intention was to bring them back to At Attin, as in the original plan! I just wanted the money. Don't you understand?
She had pushed him with his back to the ground and, lying on top of him, tried to free herself to hit him again.
Jod crossed her wrists behind her back and rolled until they reversed their positions, put his knees on the floor and lifted himself up, lifting her with him.
- It's not true, you wouldn't have taken us home! All you care about is the treasure! You don't care about us!
- Try to calm down!
He shook her violently.
- Yes, I am interested in the treasure, I have always been interested in the treasure, more than bringing you home. But that doesn't mean I wouldn't have brought you home!
- You threatened to kill them if I didn't yield.
She reminded him as she stopped fighting and started again to cry.
- I threatened.
He emphasized.
- But I didn't really hurt them. All this time I haven't hurt any of you. Have I hurt you? Answer me: have I hurt you?
- You betrayed us...
- But I have never laid a finger on any of you, even if the Force knows how much I wanted to wring Wim's neck on more than one occasion, or how unbearable you had been. You had fun commanding me left and right, yes? And I have not complained, I have obeyed, and I have never hurt you!
That detail was important to Jod: he was a pirate and as a pirate he killed, stole, lied and stabbed in the back. But he did not kill children (although there had been children on the ships he had destroyed, he had never killed them personally nor had he ever specifically ordered their deaths), he did not trade in slaves and did not tolerate rape. They were the only three limits he had set for himself and he had always gone at great length to respect them.
- You have to think about yourself Fern. You are alone. It's just the two of us now.
SM-33 activated a mechanism that caused Tak Rennod's throne to move sideways, revealing steps leading down a dimly lit corridor.
- Me, you and the droid.
Jod filled his pockets with everything he could grab from the pirate's treasure, putting numerous necklaces around his neck and doing the same with Fern and the droid and, before going down the tunnel, he hooked the lightsaber found by Wim to his belt. He went down the stairs first and told Fern to follow him without making a fuss, ordering 33 to make sure the girl obeyed his instructions.
The corridor continued uphill for several meters, before ending with a spiral staircase. Jod had to push hard to lift the stone trapdoor that closed the opening, revealing one of the underground rooms with the thermal pools. Looking around, he turned to SM-33 who, at least in theory, knew the place better than they did.
- What is the quickest way to get to the ship without being seen?
The droid guided them through narrow tunnels and stairs until Jod opened a hatch that led outside. He rejoiced at seeing his ship so close. Weighed down by the gold, he rose from the hole and addressed the employees of the baths with a captivating smile.
-I would like to vacate the room.
Without looking, he reached into the manhole and lifted the girl who was struggling to reach the edge. Firmly placing a hand on her shoulder and squeezing tightly, to detain rather than to comfort, he drew her to his side.
-I would also like to refuel the ship.
The woman, who had received them with evident repugnance, now stood motionless and petrified. Her eyes darted from him to something at his back.
-You won't get anywhere.
Jod turned abruptly, unpleasantly surprised by Gunter's annoying voice. The pirate was pointing a gun at him.
-But don't worry, we have a special room prepared just for you.
The man swallowed, seeing himself surrounded. He held Fern even tighter and then desperately turned to the droid that had yet to appear.
-33, attack!
His hopes of escape were dashed when his old crew easily knocked out SM-33.
With a satisfied grin and his one eye shining with malice, Gunter approached him as the pirates grabbed his arms and twisted them behind his back.
-Captain Brutus can't wait to meet you.
The man gloated. Then he turned a distracted glance to Fern.
-Take her too.
