CHAPTER 13
Dorian
The rickety wooden chair was uncomfortable, yet the familiar way in which it tilted and groaned beneath my weight was a comfort in its own way.
The sensation of the smooth wooden tabletop beneath my fingertips, the surface sanded down to avoid small fingers getting splinters as we ate our meals, was yet another familiar comfort that helped to soothe my raging anxiety.
Baldr was on my lap, slapping his hands against the very same tabletop that I used to slap in the very same way when I was his age.
It was strange to have the child I was responsible for in my childhood home, surrounded by my family like he was as much a part of it as my nieces and nephews that were off playing in the other room.
He wasn’t my child, but in this moment he sure felt like he was.
Even thinking about giving him back when the time came made me want to cry.
I couldn’t help it.
I loved the little guy.
Saffie, my oldest sister, was eyeing him up, too, like she wanted to snatch him from my lap and gnaw on his chunky little legs.
She’d always had a severe case of cuteness aggression around babies, and when she’d had her own her husband, Oni, had to constantly give her other things to chew to curb those impulses.
Speaking of, he noticed the direction of my stare and, putting two and two together, shoved a whole bread roll in her mouth.
I shot him a grateful smile.
Ma was the one to break the silence, her eyes wild as she struggled to process everything I’d revealed.
‘What.
The. Fuck?’
I nodded sagely.
‘That’s about the same reaction I had when I learned everything, too.
Except my freak out was more internal since we were under observation.’
‘I can’t believe… All this time… And you just… and the babies…’ She ended her rambling with a noise of disgust and horror as she threw her hands in the air.
‘How far being are the others?’ Joanie, my other older sister asked.
‘A day or two at most.
Artemis sent us here ahead of them to get the kids out of harm’s way,’ I answered.
‘And they’re bringing more people freed from captivity,’ Ma mused and I could practically see the gears turning in her head.
‘I don’t understand how we’re not talking about how Dorian’s not even a real captain,’ my stinker of a little brother, Dami, taunted, but the teasing didn’t land the same way it would have in any other situation.
‘I may only be in charge until Artemis gets back, but I’m happy to give back the reins,’ I told him.
‘I’m not sure I’d want to be in a leadership position long term in the midst of a war.
Too much responsibility.’
He made a rude sound with his mouth and slumped back against the chair, arms crossed over his chest.
Tuca ran out from beneath the table, giving up asking for scraps since we weren’t at the table for food, anyway, and rested his shaggy head on Dami’s lap.
It was nice to see the two of them getting along.
Before I’d left for the military they were usually at each other’s throats. I had never seen a pet more keen to push out a child from the family before, but something must have changed between them while I was gone and my heart clenched painfully with guilt that I didn’t know what.
Kami, my youngest sibling at only sixteen, burst into the room in a flurry of energy.
Her eyes lit up as they landed on me and rushed over to drape her skinny arms over my shoulders.
‘Hey, big bro.
Your girlfriend’s at the door again,’ she teased and I groaned, the sound whiny and tired.
‘Tell her we’re busy.
And she’s not my girlfriend.’
She pulled away, a mischief glinting in her eyes.
‘Tell her yourself.’ And then she darted from the room to fast for me to catch, only for Tassie’s face to peep around the doorframe.
‘I’m sorry to interrupt,’ she said, though her bright tone suggested she wasn’t sorry at all.
Ma sighed but waved her in.
‘Pull up a seat then, Tassie.
No point trying to keep this conversation private now.’
The only open seat available was on the furthest side of the table from me, yet no one was surprised when she dragged it noisily around the room, scooted Oni away from me despite still sitting in the chair and inserted herself as close to me as possible.
We used to think her antics were adorable until she’s become obsessive and clingy.
It seemed over a solar apart hadn’t diminished her obsession. Great.
I adjust Bal so he was as far away from her as possible when I caught her glaring at him.
I mean, how dare this sweet little baby boy take my attention? Or maybe it was my lap she was after.
Probably both.
I recoiled when she turned those big brown eyes up at me with a false innocence I had once fallen for, her tone simpering as she addressed me.
‘You’d make a wonderful daddy, Dori,’ she said, the double entendre not lost on anyone.
Dami snickered, my sisters blanched, and my parents shot her twin looks of disapproval.
‘Uh, thanks,’ I said, then shifted so my back was to her as much as possible with her sitting so close.
‘Anyway, we need to prepare the village for a pretty drastic population influx.
We’ll keep the kids on the ship for now.
I think Arty has a plan, but we won’t know until she gets here.’
‘Who’s Artemis?’ Tassie asked, her voice shrill in her jealousy.
‘Our captain,’ I told her and hoped that would be the end of it.
If only I was so lucky.
‘Is that her baby? Are you with her? How could you be so irresponsible?’
‘No!’ Baldr snapped, shocking us all into silence.
‘Bad. Ssh. No.’
Pa chuckled and reached across the tabletop to pat Bal affectionately on the head.
‘Indeed.
Now is not the time or the place for such things, Tassie.
If you cannot contain yourself then perhaps it would be best if you left this discussion.’
She pouted, shot Bal a dirty look that I wanted to smack right off her face, and sulked in her chair.
But she didn’t interrupt with her nonsense again, so we couldn’t really kick her out.
‘Right, where were we?’ Ma asked.
‘Oh, yes.
You were talking about Artemis.’
‘An’ie A!’ Baldr shouted and clapped excitedly.
‘Artemis is like his aunt,’ I explained.
‘Liberty, Baldr’s mother, is her best friend.
They grew up together after The Program paired them as kids.’
‘I see,’ Ma said softly, her gaze lingering on Bal with a tumultuous mix of emotions.
‘This is all relevant information to discuss, but we should focus on what we can do now,’ Saffie pointed out, Oni nodding along with her in agreement.
‘Yes, Dorian.
What do you need from us right now?’ Ma reiterated.
‘I think we just need a break.
We haven’t slept much these past few days and the kids… they’re a lot of work,’ I answered honestly.
‘Right, then.
Sleep for you lot while we take over.
Got it.
Why don’t you give me Baldr and-‘
‘No,’ I cut her off, clutching Baldr tighter to me.
‘Baldr stays with me.’
Everyone at the table gaped at me for a beat, caught off guard, but then understanding lit up behind her eyes.
‘Of course.
Why don’t you and Baldr go get some well need sleep and we’ll handle the rest.’
‘Okay,’ I readily agreed.
I’d had a short nap earlier, but it wasn’t near enough.
Whatever rejuvenation I had achieved had long since depleted again.
‘But I need to inform the crew first.’
‘Understood.
Let’s get a move on, then,’ Ma ushered us up and out of the house.
Tuca trotted along beside me, sniffing at my heels as he reacquainted himself with my scent.
He was awfully curious about Baldr too, though there was a wariness in his little canine eyes that made be wonder if he was able to scent the cybernetic enhancements inside the small boy.
Baldr was equally as curious, though his was much the same as when he first met Dave Junior.
I almost tripped over my feet at the reminder of the terrifying creature of legend that had somehow imprinted on Arty.
He was one hell of a beast and I wasn’t sure how well he and Tuca would get along.
I resigned myself to the fact that they likely wouldn’t but took solace in Arty’s ability to control him.
I debated mentioning him to my family, but the annoying brother in me decided that it would be more fun to just watch things play out.
Now that I was imagining it, I couldn’t wait to see their faces when they realised exactly what he was.
Maybe it would help them to understand how badass Artemis was without her needing to cave in some skulls or get stuck on the ceiling.
I bit my lip to hold in my smile, amusement filling me.
‘What are you smirking about, butthead?’ Dami asked.
I snorted.
‘Butthead? That’s all you’ve got?’
‘Yeah, well, you look like a butt,’ was his brilliant response.
‘One: there are plenty of people who like butts, so it’s not much of an insult, and two: we share the same genes, dumbass.
If I look like a butt, so do you.’
He scoffed.
‘Whatever, butt munch.’
I laughed out loud at that one, enjoying the back and forth.
‘So what if I do munch butts?’
His nose wrinkled at the image that presented him.
‘Gross.
You’re such an ass.’
‘I just want to know where this fascination with butts is coming from,’ I taunted.
‘Shut up.
I don’t like butts.’
‘There’s no shame in it, you know.
There are some pretty great butts out there.’
‘I don’t like butts!’ he repeated, his voice rising with his frustration.
‘Uh huh. Sure.’
‘I.
Don’t.
Like.
Butts!’ he shouted, drawing the attention of everyone from the entire village that was milling about the ship. He flushed a deep crimson that reminded me of Arty when we’d first met. I never got the chance to tease that blush out of him before. I would have to make up for lost time.
‘I hate you,’ Dami hissed beneath his breath before storming off, Tuca following close behind.
Chuckled to myself at how easy it was to rile him up.
Some things never changed.
Ma brushed against me as she walked past.
‘Stop teasing your brother,’ she whispered in my ear, though her tone was light rather than chastising.
‘Sure,’ I said with a wink that promised it was a lie.
She headed off, shaking her head.
‘It’s good to have you back, little brother,’ Joanie said.
‘Indeed,’ Oni agreed as he walked nearby with Saffie.
‘It’s nice to have another grown man around.’
‘You’re just mad that Saffie only said you can have a threesome if the third is a man, while I’m over here living it up with the sexiest woman around,’ she retorted and I physically recoiled from that information.
‘And that’s my cue to go far, far away from here,’ I said and then picked up the pace, leaving them and their cackling behind me.
The ramp was still down from this morning when we first landed and I couldn’t help my gaze from trailing over the bent metal of the grates where Morgrid had been cuffed to them.
That was a close call, but something was going to have to be done about her before she actually got anyone hurt.
Or killed.
She was a danger to us all at this point, and while I felt for her since her insanity stemmed from the grief of losing her mate, I couldn’t make excuses for her behaviour any longer. I added talking to Foryk about it to my ever-growing to-do list, but for now my only job was ensuring my crew were taken care of.
Food, shower, sleep.
It didn’t even have to be in that order, as long they were refreshed enough tomorrow to get back to work.
I couldn’t wait for the others to get here so we could divvy up the responsibilities over more people, though I was well aware in the back of my mind that their arrival would come with its own set of challenges.
The prisoners, for one.
I found Eloria first as she was exiting the elevator and flagged her down.
‘Hey, Cap.
Any news?’
‘Just on my way to make sure everyone gets some rest.
The villagers will be taking over watching the kids so everyone can reset.’
She took one look at me in all my droopy, scruffy glory and shooed me away.
‘You go.
I’ll let them know.’
I hesitated.
‘Are you sure?’
‘Yes.
Go.
You need rest and I’ve already slept.
And showered. You need to do both because I hate to break it to you, but you don’t just look like a corpse. You smell like one, too.’
I snorted half-heartedly.
‘Gee. Thanks.’
‘Go on.
I’ve got this covered.’
I waved my thanks as I turned around and said goodbye to my family as I passed.
They followed Ellie deeper into the ship while I went home, eager for Baldr snuggles in a bed rather than in an alert, upright position.
One glance at him and I was pretty sure he was, too.
He had more energy than a normal kid most days, but even the most energetic person would find travelling and escaping evil scientists not once, but twice exhausting. He must have been able to sense that we were safe for the time being because he was asleep before we had even made it back to the house.
I went straight to my old room which still looked the same as when I had left it.
I shared it with Dami since we were the only boys, but I couldn’t find any signs that he’d messed with my side of the room in my absence.
The bed was a bit dusty, but I was too tired to care.
I simply gave it a few smacks to air it out and brushed off the majority of the dust, turned over the pillow to the cleaner side, then settled us both beneath the covers.
I would change them tomorrow.
My body gave way to unconsciousness and I fell into a deep, dreamless sleep, Baldr tucked beneath my chin and his little fists clutching my shirt.