The Boilin' Pot

"I'm tellin' you I could sleep a week with all these crates we been goin' through, "I sighed as I hefted one of the crates of supplies into the cargo container. "It just ain't been a great season to be jolly. First there was helpin' Lily with the final stuff on the Blue Sun walk. At least I got spend some time with Lily b'fore the big hunt." I took a moment to stretch my back and arms b'fore pickin' up the next box. There was a lot of stuff to move.

"Yeah, Spent openin' night mannin' the entry. Had to tell folk where to head and how to get in. That weren't so bad. Sides, the place looked downright shiney. Yeah, I know... All the lights and all. Still it had the holiday feel." 'At least for most,' I thought. " Hell, most of if not all my family was gone. So were a lot of others of late. Shadow was gone. Caliban too. A lot of folk without homes and families on this here time of peace....", Kicking at the dirt, I picked the crate up, movin' it into the darkened interior of the cargo container. "Sometime later that night...And I'm not sure how exactly, but I got taken. No not what you think.... One mo I was at the gate workin', then the next I'm wakin' up in the clinic. My foot was all numb and my boot was off."

I shook my head as I stepped back out into the bright light of midday, "Found myself stinkin' of whiskey and layin' on the scannin' bed. I know I wasn't drinkin'. Hell I ain't been drinkin' much for well over a month now. Since I got shot, I been stayin' away from most liquor. Well, I got up and looked down to see I was reunited with my gorram toe. If you were to ask me how... I'd be as confused as to how as the next man. But there it was.... my own toe." Smilin' I looked down at my booted foot. "Maybe I got an early holiday gift. From who? Got no idea. Anyway, I contacted Brook and Dex. Let em know what all happened. They found me sittin' there confused and dazed. Ended up they took me back to the Drift where we met up with Rose. Seems she got some medical trainin' and checked my foot. Then it was decided they were goin' to check for trackin' devices.... And gorram sure enough there was. Stuck inside a tooth...."

Somehow the thought of them tryin' to decide how to best yank my tooth didn't give me a good feelin'. I grimaced at the thought, "Rose said she could disable it with some device she had in her things. Took her a couple of minutes to find it, then she placed it against the side of my face and pulsed it. No more signal. Dex double checked to make sure it was good and well dead. After that it was decided that I'd be stayin' with Brooke and Dex at their place for the night at least. I spent pretty much of that time sleepin'. Once there I was asked to climb into to a tank. Dex said it was from NVI. After a little convincin' of it's safety, I got in. Dex let Rose take over with the scan and the healin' of my foot and side. I guess I slept through it."

Steppin' back to see what could fit in next, I rubbed my chin, thinkin', "Next day I asked Dex if there was somethin' I could do 'round the place so I didn't go stir crazy. So he gave me some stuff to repair. It's what I did durin' that day. While I was there I did check some of the old messages I loaded up just before we left MacLaren's Drift. That's when I found the message from Lily askin' me to meet her this very night to say goodbye. It was time for the hunt. I asked Brooke to fly me back to Hale's Moon for a short time, then we could pick up some of the food supplies I had set aside to store as needed. When I got there, Lily was all dressed real nice. She looked all shiney." Sittin' down on one of the bigger crates, I wiped the sweat from my face and neck.

"Yeah... She asked if we could take a walk through the Blue Sun holiday setup. We spent the time just walkin' and not thinkin' she was leavin'.... But then the walk was over. We were at the little Santa cabin. Inside, we talked for a short while b'fore givin' each other our gifts. I gave her a big crystal I had found. Seems the asteroid field has some other stuff sides wrecks. Found it in one of the broken floatin' rock. Big old shiney amethyst crystal. Real clear. Not often I find somethin' like that."When I found it, I had hung onto it to give her for a special occasion, and it seemed the right time to. Then she was gone. Runnin' 'round. Then she hid. Most like, to keep me from followin' her. What made me unhappy was her makin' me promise not to go and get her back. And now I got to hold to that."

Puttin' the bandana back in my pocket, I stood back up and grabbed another box, "Afterward, it was stickin' to work. Salvage and load these here containers with saleable stuff. Brand even come by one day sayin' he found a big old ship. We took a day and checked it out. Gorram it was a mess in there. Looked like reavers been in there. Dried blood and gore...... Bodies long dead and dried out. I ain't seen such a sight b'fore. Don't think I want to again either. There was a lot of salvage though. Some good stuff still intact and usable. Trust, we went over that stuff once we got it on the ground to make sure it was still good. When I had the chance I took a day after that and pulled an old shuttle out of it. Looked like it was partially stripped. Once it was free of the wreck, I hauled it back to the space station over Mac's. I talked with the dock manager to let me barrow one of the lower landin' decks to work on the shuttle. Once done I'd have it out of his way."

"Then there's the new situation with too many new faces 'round the Drift of late. Seems Faith's pa showed up. He was talkin' to Brooke..... I bet I know what all he wanted too. And it don't include Brooke. Bri was ready to kill him, 'cept Brazen, who happened to be there, was holdin' her back. For once I stood back and watched. I will tell you this, Faith had a lot of nerve to come all the way to the Drift just to talk. He want's that baby.I think a lot of folk'll hunt him down if he does try. Then a few days later I even had someone by the name of Kari come lookin' for me direct. Said she was Nack Barnes sister... and Lily's sister....Needed to let me know that the hunt was a fake. Wasn't real. Aiya, I wasn't happy to hear that. She offered to find Lily for me. I took her up on it. Seein' as I made a promise, I need to keep it. She also told me 'bout Aurora.... That cub's real bad news..... Kari said Aurora was goin' to hunt Lily and me down. Get rid of us both. And that she grew up. All adult like. And had dark hair. That do bother me a lot." I frowned and hefted the new box, carrin' it inside the larger one. I placed it on top of the other ones makin' sure it was snug.

"Then I Saw Brooke at Bootleggers yesterday. She was lookin' real uncomfortable. I started to wonder if she was goin' to say it was time..... Instead she said she wanted head to the companion's guild for a rest. Can't blame her much. She's been runnin' 'round Like a mad woman for the last little while now. I agreed to fly her there. I'd stick 'round in case there was trouble, or she needed to go elsewhere on request." I nodded, happy with how the packin' was goin'. "Spent the night sleepin' in the Shadow. Left my comm open in case she called for anythin'. Like Varahi said. This is like family. Got to keep supportin' each other. And the thought of bein' a sort of uncle again......", I smiled thinkin' after the family I lost, that maybe this was somethin' I needed. To be a part of somethin' that brings a family together. One small moment, one new, shiney family member."

"Speakin' of.... I got to head back." I closed up the cargo container, lockin' it down, "There's a lot goin' on. On the one hand I got Lily, I'm real worried 'bout. I need to know she's safe. And then there's the Boss. A lot of priorities. A lot of things that could potentially go wrong. It's why I'm handlin' security for Brooke.... Then I'm goin' to start doin' some lookin' for where Lily might be. I won't go there direct, but it dont mean I can't keep tabs."