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Toby took a moment to collect his bearings, referring to the little hand-drawn map a dockhand had made him. The intersection looked right, but he wasn’t sure he was where he needed to be. Looking a little closer, a small metal sign pointed down a street, its letters in a language Toby didn’t understand, but a small flag of the Colony told him that was the way to the consulate. He adjusted the small backpack on his back, and started towards home soil.
The streets of the Port of Ganda were narrow, the buildings on either side crowded up to the very limits of their plots. In many places the old bricks and cobblestones showed through holes in the asphalt. Someone, some country had colonized this place centuries ago, but had left, and the island reclaimed itself. As Toby walked, he took in the scenery. Like Anchorhead, the town crowded around the base of a mountain, round and green, its peak hidden in fog. But the port city was much shorter than Anchorhead, much less crowded. On a pleasant day in the middle of the afternoon a few people walked past, off to the market or home. Few vehicles moved around the town, and those that did were like the Dinghy, small and quiet. Any other time, Toby wouldn’t have minded getting lost here.
Behind him, Toby could hear a vehicle approach, and he stepped to the side of the road to let it pass. The little van turned quickly, stopping across his path, blocking him from going any further. Toby stopped, his ears up alert, and he watched the vehicle rock as the driver got out. Just before the driver came into view, he recognized the Dinghy. Xiphos came around the corner of the van, holding something small and pink in her hand. She stomped over to him quickly, her ears flat against her head.
“What is this?” She asked, holding up the pink item. Toby had made it for her before he left, a little chocolate cupcake with pink frosting and sprinkles. He left it on a plate at the helm with a little note that said simply, “goodbye.”
Toby looked at Xiphos’s hand, then back at her. “It’s a cupcake.”
“I know what a fucking cupcake is!” Xiphos threw the cupcake into the gutter. “What are you doing?”
“I’m going to go home,” Toby said. “The captain said I should. She said she wouldn’t be insulted if I left.”
Xiphos grabbed Toby by the arm. “She’s wrong. If you try to go home, you’ll just get sent to the Firebrand again.”
Toby’s ears dropped. He checked over Xiphos’s face for her intentions. She looked tired, her eyes red and heavy. The white fur on her face was still muddied by the blood from the gash on her forehead. Toby caught her eye, and she turned away. “Just… get in the van.”
Toby pulled his muzzle shut, folding his arms over his stomach. He looked down the little street, towards the consulate. He could just barely make out the colors of the Colony’s flag. He turned back to Xiphos, but she had turned her back to him, heading back around the front of the van.
Xiphos came around the back of the Dinghy, and a man, waiting against the edge of the street jogged up to her. He was tall, muscular, a human with his head shaved. He reminded Xiphos a lot of Billy, and she watched him approach with curiosity, her tail twitching behind her.
The man removed a picture from his jacket and handed it to Xiphos. “Have you seen this boy?”
Xiphos took the photo. It was of Toby, maybe a couple years younger, maybe a school photo. Xiphos felt her ears level out, and then fold against her head. “Maybe,” she said. “Tall guy, right. Funny accent, maybe speaks Ysan?”
“Not at all,” the man said, almost growling out his words.
“Then no,” Xiphos said. She turned to the Dinghy, getting the keys out of her pocket to start it. The man shifted behind her.
“You’re lying to me,” the man said. “I know this van. He was picked up in this van.”
“Huh,” Xiphos said. “What do you want him for? He’s not yours.”
“He was supposed to be delivered to a boat near Orcos Island. Never made it.”
“Sorry to hear that,” Xiphos said.
“Where are you hiding him?” The man peered through the windscreen of the Dinghy, looking through to the back. Xiphos followed his gaze, finding, to her fear and relief, that Toby wasn’t there.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
The man leaned his face in, inches from hers. “You lie to me,” he said, dropping his voice, “but your ears are telling me everything I need to know.” He flicked her ear. Xiphos flinched.
“Go away,” she said, “or I’m calling the police.”
The man straightened up. He smiled and handed Xiphos a card. “Here’s my contact information. Call me when you want to stop playing hide and seek. Could be cash in it.”
Xiphos climbed in to the Dinghy. “Die in a submarine fire,” she said. She pulled the Dinghy around the block until she was heading back towards the harbor. When she was a couple of blocks out, she turned to the back. “Toby?”
Toby sat with his back pressed hard against the driver’s seat, holding his ears flat against his head. Xiphos could guess he was shaking as much as she was.
“We should be okay now,” Xiphos said. “Was that the guy?”
“Yeah. From the docks?” Toby said.
Xiphos nodded. She picked up the radio. “Xiphos to Rose.”
There was a long pause. Only the hiss of static came back.
“Xiphos to Rose. Alert, Toby’s escort is on the island. We’re heading back now. Please have the crane ready to get us in.”
There was another pause, this one shorter. “Did I hear that right, Xiphos?” It was Billy.
“Yes.”
“We’ll be waiting.” A small electronic bell sounded over Xiphos’s radio, the sound of the departure bell.
Toby whimpered behind her. “Please don’t give me up to him,” he said.
“I won’t,” Xiphos said. “We can’t lose anyone else.”
Toby nodded. “Why do you care? You don’t like me.”
Squinting against the afternoon sun, Xiphos said, just above a whisper, “she liked you.”
Toby climbed over the seat, sitting next to Xiphos. “What?”
“Shut up,” she said. She turned on to the dock roads, towards the Rose, a bright silver beacon against the harbor.
Back to Part 020 – Forward to Part 022
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Oh, I love Xiphos. “Die in a submarine fire” made me laugh. :D
Xiphos is pretty amazing. I love how she tries to be tough, but she’s not tough, and it shows.
That’s actually a very nasty way to go. Consider that the only air you have is the air you brought with you…there’s plenty of grease and oil, and the fumes don’t take long to build up badly.
I can imagine the escort has put Xiphos into a very nasty mood.