Vengeance 15 - The sister
Crashlanding / Book version / Patreon
(Crashlanding is now out on Amazon for those who are interested. Please leave a nice review.)
“Don’t worry, she might appear scary, but she is really a kitten,” Peter said as he landed in the hangar of Fona 12, the mining operation at the Fygian system asteroid field.
She looked at him and could not help but be worried. She was his sister, and she grabbed her gift, a bottle of expensive wine from Earth. She wanted to do this perfectly. Peter walked with her to the hatch and opened it into the hangar. It was just what you expected from a mining station in a god-forsaken place. The smell of crystallized fuel and oil hit them, along with the sounds of ships being refueled and people shouting orders. But she could not see anybody who could be his sister.
“Did you tell her we are coming?”
“No, I thought it would be fun to surprise her. She should be in the administration office.”
“What? What if she is busy? What if she is doing something important?” She looked at him, and Peter just shrugged.
“Then we borrow her cabin and get out of her way. Hell, if that happens, she will probably drop Mark and June on us.” He said, as he put his arm around her, and offered to carry the wine.
“Who are they?”
“Oh, her kids. I think they are ten and eight now.” He said that as they entered the hallway leading to the administration, no one reacted as they walked. They walked past the space trucker and miners and entered the main hall. The admin office was on the second floor and featured a small dome that let them view the asteroid. They were halfway there when the artificial gravity had a hiccup, and they almost fell down as they suddenly floated through the air.
“HAWDY! FIX THE DAMN CABLE! I TOLD YOU TO DUCTAPE IT!” a female voice shouted through the intercom, and a Ruudurs cursed as he leaped down the hallway.
“AND WHO LET CIVIS ON THE BASE!” The female voice continued as Peter grabbed the rail and pulled them down. Then he grabbed the wine bottle as it floated in the air, gave it to Kiko, and told her to hold the bottle while he held them down.
“She sounds pissed off. Are you sure it’s okay?” Kiko said she was getting worried as Peter just chuckled.
“Yeah, don’t worry about it, hold my arm and I will get us up to the door.” He replied, and she reached out to hold his hand as he used the rail to move them up. It felt a little like being underwater, and soon they reached the top just as their bodies started to feel heavier and gravity returned.
“HAWDY? DID YOU USE THE DUCTAPE?” the voice called out over the intercom, “AND WHY ARE THERE STILL CIVIS ….. PETER? WHAT THE HELL?” The door opened with a hiss, and a blonde curly woman came out and tackled Peter with a hug.
“Peter! What the hell, kitten? What are you doing here?” She didn’t seem to notice her, and Kiko just stared at the two. She looked like a slightly older and feminine version of Peter, except her hair was curly, but they both had those clear hazel eyes and body build for action. And she had called her Peter Kitten? Was his nickname Kitten? Then those eyes were turned to her, and she felt like she was being studied by somebody far more powerful than her dad, then she broke into a smile.
“And you brought a girlfriend?” Mina said, looking at Peter. “Right or?”
“Fiancée,” Peter said, and Mina’s eyes quickly glanced at her hands, then back at Peter.
“You cheap bastard. Where is her ring?” She stared at Peter, then turned back to her.” I’m so sorry, I thought we taught this Kitten better. He seemed to have lost his marbles. Don’t worry, I will make sure he gets his act back on, or I will call Jacob to beat some sense into him. If that doesn’t work, I will tell Ma and Pa.” With the last words, she looked back at Peter as if giving him a death threat.
“It's not like that. I plan to get her a ring. But it has to be from a special planet.” Peter explained, and Kiko could not help but silently watch the two; before she knew it, Mina grabbed her arm and pulled her into the office. She managed the impossible task of making the office look both clean and messy at the same time. The floor and shelves were stacked orderly, and the desk was filled with files and reports. The office had a couch where an old black-and-white dog looked up lazily at them, then went back to sleep. There was a staircase going up to the small area near the dome roof, where there were two relaxing sofas, the only things in the room that looked like they had a touch of femininity, with comfortable sofas in bright red colors and a round wooden table between them with a potted area in the middle with a beautiful blue orchid. “Please sit, tell me everything.”
Kiko just stared at the area and the office below, and Mina waved her hand. “Oh, just something my husband made for me. He said I needed at least some place to relax in the room.”
“Where is Thomas?” Peter asked as he sat down with Kiko.
“Oh, he went hunting with Mark and June. They will be back tonight. You know teenagers. Can’t spend a night outdoors.” Then Mina turned her attention back to her.
“So, where did you meet this stupid brother of mine? Did he try some lame pick-up line?” Then she grinned. “Please let it be something stupid.”
She put the bottle on the table and saw Mina’s eyes notice and approve. Then she looked at Peter. How should she explain this to his sister?
“Well.. I got kidnapped, and the kidnapper shipped me in a cargo container on his ship, then they got attacked by some mercenaries sent by my dad to rescue me. They escaped through a wormhole and crash-landed on this crazy planet. But only Peter and I survived. And when he found me, he let me free, and together we escaped the planet.” She said, and Mina blinked a few times,
“Run that by me again. You got kidnapped, and that's how you met him? Are you sure that idiot captain of his was not behind it?”
“Because I killed the guy who kidnapped me, Peter helped. He is a great shot.” She said with a smile, and Mina looked between them.
“And this is true?” She asked her brother, and Peter nodded.
“Yes, Lars got himself into another gambling debt. We were about to toss the fool out the airlock. We were going to have a meeting about who would be the captain after that trip. Didn’t go well for any of them. They didn’t survive the crash landing.”
He looked at her, and Kiko smiled at him. She was glad it had happened now; if not, she would never meet him.
“Wow, that’s like taken from one of those romance novels. And you fell for that idiot? God damm. I guess you had to be the only human on the planet to have a chance with somebody like her.” His sister said to him, then winked at her.
“I can see you’re a city girl. One of the big colonies?”
“Oh, I’m from Sanctuary. And he is more than I can handle at times. I’m just so glad I met him. I guess sometimes things have to go to hell before you meet the right one.” She replied, and she saw something had changed in Mina.
“Sanctuary? That's a nice place. I heard of a woman who was kidnapped a few months ago. We had mercenaries searching everywhere to get her back. Big bounty to whoever got her back.” She said, then looked back at Peter. “What the hell have you done. Is she?”
“This is where she freaks out,” Peter whispered in her ears, and Mina heard it and sat back in shock.
“Mina, this is Kiko Lee, my fiancée, and yes, she is the daughter of whom you think,” Peter said calmly, and Kiko hoped Mina would not panic.
“WHAT!” she looked at Peter. “Are you crazy? Her father is going to kill you.” She pointed at Peter, then looked at her and, with a softer voice, said, “No offense!” as she turned her attention back to Peter. “You're going to get yourself killed, and you haven’t given her a ring? Are you stupid!”
Peter just looked at her. “She took it better than I thought she would.” Then he turned to his sister. “ I have met her father, and Kiko has asked for his blessing, and he gave it.”
“Yeah, that’s going to last until he finds out who flew the ship that kidnapped her.”
“He knows that too,” Kiko replied, and Mina just stared between them. “How is he alive?”
“He is alive because he is my fiancée and I don’t really care about having any other ring. He gave me a Michu kitten that I named Hoshi . It’s the best gift I have gotten. I have enough fancy rings and necklaces.” She said as she pulled up her bad and showed her a hologram of Hosi.
Mina was about to say something, then just melted as she saw the kitten. “Aww, that’s so cute.” Then she looked at her brother. “You're such a sly bastard. He got that from Pa. My god… “
There was suddenly a beep, and a rough-looking man peeked inside the office door. “Boss, the Deltafound six is reporting in. What do you want us to do?”
“I’m busy, you deal with it. I’ll read the report later!” Then she turned back to the two. “Sorry about that. So how long are you going to stay for?”
“Not long, I just wanted Mina to relax on a planet that doesn’t want to kill you all the time.”
“And don't have any Gyma or giant snakes,” Kiko added with a smile.
“Did you take her home? I’m so sorry, you should never go to Runior unless you have a damn mechsuit and a dreadnought as backup.”
“Naw, it just had similar fauna. It was one of those crazy ZOO worlds. Anyway. I hope you didn’t mind us dropping in like this. I was actually wondering if you still have that lake cabin you let us borrow last time?”
“Hey, no problem, but that cabin got burned down when Mark had a party there. But we have a guest house on the farm that you can borrow. I hope you don’t mind curious teenagers.”
“How bad can it be?” Kio asked, and Mina chuckled.
“They haven’t seen their war hero uncle for three years, and then he was a wreck. Mark wants to join the Navy to become pilots. And if they find out who you are, then... well, June is going to go berserk; she wants to study at Sanctuary. She is all caught up on the gossip, too. Always watching those gossip stories.”
“This is going to be interesting,” Kiko said as she looked at Peter, who chuckled.
“What? They are living a safe, boring life here.”
“Safe and boring? Well, safer than Runior.” Mina said. Why don’t you guys relax here, and I will finish up, and I’ll take you down to the farm. We can have dinner, and I will tell you everything about Kitten over there.”
“Oh, I would love that.”
Kiko stretched in bed as she woke up the next day. The cabin was made of real wood. She sat up in bed and noticed Peter was already up, that there was music coming from the kitchen, and that he was singing to himself. Last night had been magical, and the kids had been so great. She had expected young kids, but Mark was seventeen, and June only two years younger. The whole family was just so natural. Mina was constantly teasing Peter and her husband, but her husband clearly loved her, and Peter was just as teasingly back. She also had her first proper barbecue, and they sat up far into the night talking. And when they had gone to their guest house, she had been surprised by how big it was. If this was the life Peter was offering her, then she would be content for the rest of her life. She could really get used to this.
- Cast-
Kiko Lee
Peter Fordhall
Jacob Fordhall - a brother of Peter and Mina
Mina Fordhall – Peter’s two-year-old sister.
Thomas Smith – Mina’s husband
Mark and June – teenage kids of Mina and Thomas
Animals
Mictu-kitten – a catlike creature with wings, the size of a sparrow
Gyma – Flying croc