There was something to way the engine had sighed when Penelope guided Old Bertha to her final port that told her all she needed to hear. ‘Fore the captain even came round to deliver the news, he found the plucky pilot gently caressing the console, giving all the soft utterances needed to the ease the passing of the ship’s final moments.
“Reckon it ain’t a good sign to see the pilot sayin’ last rites.” The weathered old man, Captain O’Malley, said with a thoughtful rub to his grisly beard. “Shoulda known the way entry went that it’dta be my last flight.”
Penelope turned her hazel eyes up at that with a final pat to the dash, surprise at hearing he too was retiring from the black. “Say it ain’t so, captain. You got plenty’a courses yet to chart.”
“Oh, girl, it’s better to not get a scoldin’ for pushin’ Bertha on this last leg, but I can’t say your sweetness doesn’t jab the heart just so.” O’Malley gave a soft chuckle. “Been thinkin’ ‘bout it plenty. Was hopin’ to let ya know when we touched down back home, but… maybe this place’d be for the best.”
“For the best? I never took ya for a city man, Cap’n.” She grinned then, but the sudden shout from down the hatch cut her short. O’Malley sighed as he looked down the way. “What’s riled up down there? I did my best to keep her steady, I did.”
“An’ a fine job ya did, Pen. Better make the announcement ‘fore Dev stirs the nest.” The captain moved over to the side of the control panel, lifting the transceiver from its cradle while his pilot slipped out of the way with one last look at Old Bertha’s dash. As she made her way to her bunk, she heard his gravelly voice come over the speakers, crackling with static: “Y’all might’ve guessed with the rough entry, trailin’ smoke a mile on long, and this here electrical situation goin’ on that Persephone is the last port Old Bertha is ever gonna make, so ... I’m havin’ to make decisions a lot sooner than I hoped. It ain’t the way I’d like it ta go, but it seems this is a split for us all. We did a lotta good work, an’ once the payload is in, your cut’ll show. Persephone has more than enough ways to make a man, but if’n you’re hankerin’ to head home like planned, I’ll pay for a trip into Red Sun so’s it won’t take none of yours. Ain’t got much else to say ‘cept it’s been a good run. I’ve got some arrangements to make for the ol’ girl, and cargo to offload, then we’ll say goodbye proper.”
While the captain had gone on, Penelope made it to her bunk and saw to making sure she had gotten all her things. There was some amount of bittersweetness here, having to take down her personals from the wall, knowing she wouldn’t see the crew again for who knows if ever. It wasn’t like they were all a family - O’Malley took her on when he found her stowed away with the cargo, determination set that she had to trade out what she brought. They had a few runs, but only a few. Dev was a merc that stayed on too long, and run’d his mouth too much, causin’ trouble for the fun of it. And she didn’t like the way he looked at the women they took on as passengers, but he never did nothin’ untoward, so at least there was that.
With a sigh, she stared at the grey metal, reached out to touch a spot of rust. “Poor ol’ girl. I hope they treat ya real nice, and maybe a piece of ya will touch the black again. I hear Persephone is real good at metal works. Hey, maybe you’ll be part of one of them fancy trains. Ain’t never imagined it, did ya?”
She grinned, considering how maybe it would be nice to try something different out. With her personal keepsakes all bound up, she tied it to a tattered and well-loved copy of her favorite book (Treasure Island), then stuffed it all in the front pouch of her rucksack.She took her clothes and folded them real tight, pushing them down to the bottom of the inner bag, then placed her box of earrings on top. This wasn’t home, not at all. A bunk shared out in the open with the passengers left her feelin’ safer than bolted down in the crew quarters, but the passengers came and went. And crew didn’t last long with Dev around. Maybe, she smiled again, her next adventure would fill in those missin’ pieces.
Canvas rucksack strapped over her shoulders, she waved one last goodbye to the captain after he handed her the credits for the mission he’d collected. He’d told her about a ship he heard was charting back to Red Sun, looking for all sorts. With the fare she tried to refuse on her person, and a last look at Old Bertha, she made her way to find the China Doll.
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