Jack walked down to Transporter Room One. He had the big quest list in mind, and

a smaller mental checklist on what to do to clear out the people in the transporter

buffer, and then move on to do the other things on his list.

He didn’t like to think about a visit from his sister. He liked to be on his own. He

didn’t need his older sister trying to bully him into making choices he didn’t like.

Aviras rode on his shoulder. The dragon remained quiet. That was good.

“The girls are expecting us,” said Josie. “You ready for your date? How long has it

been?”

“I haven’t dated anyone since the Army,” said Jack. He smiled. “I might be rusty.”

“You didn’t bring her home,” said Josie.

“I didn’t have the time,” said Jack. “I don’t remember meeting any of your

boyfriends.”

“I didn’t have anyone steady,” said Josie. “And they were all band guys. I don’t think

you would have got along with any of them.”

“I would have cut them some slack,” said Jack. “They were dating you. That’s a big

stress test.”

“Oh ho,” said Josie. “That’s rich.”

“It is what it is,” said Jack. He grinned. He didn’t feel like fighting, but it was burning

off some of his malaise. “What kind of things do people do for fun in the Dark

Ages?”

“Let Elaine handle that part,” said Josie. “You’re mixing business with pleasure. Are

you sure you can handle it?”

“I don’t know,” said Jack. “But I have a nice suit I can wear while we do the things.”

“All right,” said Josie. “I’ll look into those buildings with Jane to get them ready so

we can house the women from the transporter.”

“All right,” said Jack. He could fix anything they needed for floors and walls. That

was the best thing Majik did.

“Elaine is good for you, Jack,” said Josie. “The work is on pause until we can sort out

the next steps. Have fun while you can.”

“I prefer to work on things,” said Jack. “I still have to work on the kids’ stuff. I

almost have Bea’s ring ready.”

“Work on it when you come home,” said Josie. She gestured for him to stand on the

pad after they entered the room.

“I need to make sure she can use it without blowing off her own head,” said Jack. He

walked on the transporter pad.

“That would be nice,” said Josie. She took her place. “Enterprise, beam us down.”

“Affirmative,” said the machine.

A blue glow wrapped around them and it cleared after they were put back together on

the ground.

“Don’t tell Eric about the theories about the transporter as far as dying and being

brought back,” said Josie. “I don’t think he is ready for that yet.”

“Excuse me,” said Aviras. “What theories?”

“Fan stuff,” said Jack. He waved his hand in dismissal. “Nothing you need to worry

about. You’re a mighty dragon.”

“You should say that with more respect,” said Aviras.

“You’re right,” said Jack. “You are the mightiest of all mighty blue dragons. We bow

before your tiny stature.”

Aviras bit his ear.

“Ouch,” said Jack. He reached up and waved his hand to get the dragon to let his ear

go.

“You two need to get it under control,” said Josie. She grabbed Aviras around his

body. “Let go.”

Aviras mumbled around his biting.

“Let go,” said Josie. She had one hand on Jack’s shoulder to steady herself. “I’m

going to count to three.”

Aviras let go of the ear. Fire escaped his snout. He glared at Jack with his sapphire

eyes.

“I think you should treat me a little better,” said Aviras.

“He’s right,” said Josie. “Come on, buddy. I’ll get you a pancake or something.”

“What about my ear?,” asked Jack. He rubbed his ear, feeling the blood welling up.

“You deserved what you got,” said Josie. She cradled the dragon in her arms. “Don’t

try to act the victim.”

“I can’t believe you bit me,” said Jack. He rubbed at his ear. “Now, I’m bleeding all

over my shirt.”

“Such is the nature of revenge for wrongs done,” said Aviras.

“I will fix your ear,” said Josie. “Quit crying like a baby.”

“My ears are precious to me,” said Jack. He checked his finger, relieved that the

bleeding had stopped a little. “Now I have to wash the blood off my hand.”

“Picking on someone over their size is a bullying move,” said Josie. “I thought we

went over this when we were kids.”

“I was the one being bullied then,” admitted Jack.

“So you should have some empathy for your victim, Forrest,” said Josie. She shook

her head. “Now where are we? We didn’t specify where we should be put down.”

“We’re a couple blocks over from the Hole in the Wall,” said Jack. He pointed the

direction they should walk. “Take a right at the corner.”

Josie walked along, nodding when she reached a familiar landmark. She walked

another block and saw the bump of their place at the base of the defending wall.

“We’re almost home,” she said.

Aviras leaped from her grip and flew down the street. He left a small line of fire in

the air as he went.

Jack smiled for a moment. He liked that part of things more than anything. He walked

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

behind Josie, hands in his pockets. He hoped that Elaine loved him as much as he

loved her.

He wondered how she felt about him, but was afraid what it would mean if she didn’t

think of him like he wanted. He didn’t want to cause problems because they weren’t

doing everything right.

Life was going to be tough enough if they couldn’t work out any problem that might

arise.

Was he doing the right thing staying with Elaine? Were they doing the right thing just

staying? Had Warner been right in his approach until he quit?

Jack decided the best thing to do was keep rolling with the flow. He had a list of

problems to solve. He had a problem solver on his wrist. All he needed was some

time to plan and do what he needed to do.

Saving the world wore you down. Maybe he had been casting too much, and he

should think about letting things move on their own for a bit.

The Society would have new jobs for him and Josie when they were ready. He could

already see what kind of speeches they were going to give him over the creation of

the Enterprise. He expected some recriminations.

On the other hand, they had saved the world with Fass’s Fighters. They should count

for something.

He had a feeling that the other women were being used in the same types of schemes.

He had to think about how he wanted to shut down the Montrose faster, and then

implement it.

Letting them run loose couldn’t be good for the good of the world.

Jack paused in the middle of his ruminations. Josie stood ahead of him. She was

smiling. That seemed strange. She held out a hand and gestured for someone to come

out of the bump on the wall.

A vision of beauty stepped out in the evening air. Amazement washed over him. He

had known this, but hadn’t experienced it until now. He couldn’t breathe.

“Jack?,” said Elaine. She paused with hand upraised. “Are you okay?”

“I told you,” said Beatrice. Jack noticed her smiling, but it was an image in the back

of his mind and meant nothing.

“Jack?,” said Josie. “You can breathe.”

“You are so beautiful,” said Jack. “I think I am in Heaven. I can’t believe this. I think

I am dead.”

“Go ahead and get cleaned up,” said Josie. “I don’t think Elaine wants to take a

smelly brute out to the show.”

“That’s right,” said Jack. “I can get my suit out.”

“Go ahead,” said Josie. She smiled behind her hand.

Jack bent down a little to kiss Elaine on the cheek. His heart had steadied out. He

could move. He could think. His thoughts were still in a jumble, but they were

starting to line up like rail cars on the tracks.

He rushed into the apartments. He barely noticed the kids clearing out of his way. He

felt lighter than air.

He grabbed his black suit and ran into the bathroom. He cleaned up and cleaned his

old clothes. He donned his black suit, tying his tie as careful as he could. He took the

time to check himself in the mirror. He nodded at the image smiling back at him.

Jack folded his clothes and put them back into the room he was sharing with Elaine.

He wondered how many kids they would have.

“I have a show picked out for us,” said Elaine. “We have time for dinner at a

restaurant, and then the show, and then we can walk the wall home.”

“Whatever you want to do,” said Jack. “Do we try to get a cab, or walk, or do I carry

us?”

“We have time,” said Elaine. She straightened his jacket with her hands. She kissed

him. “Let’s take our walk. I know a place we can stop for our meal, then the show.”

“Right,” said Jack. “I’m sorry. I seemed to have slipped a gear.”

“It’s all right,” said Elaine. She took his arm. “We can talk as we walk.”

Jack heard someone say it was worth it to see the look on his face, but he didn’t care.

He was walking with his girl, planning for a dinner and a show at a theater, and then

a tour home through the city.

Things were looking up. Josie could deal with the rest of the world for the amount of

time they would be taking to enjoy themselves.

“I see you got a cut on your ear,” said Elaine.

“Aviras bit me,” said Jack. “He got angry that I was being sarcastic when I should

have been a bit more serious.”

“I assume that you are properly chastised about your behavior,” said Elaine.

“Never,” said Jack. He smiled at her smile. “Josie is inviting Juni for a visit. She says

that I am having problems. She thinks a visit from my sister would be all right to try

to get me back on the rails.”

“You don’t agree?,” said Elaine.

“I don’t know,” said Jack. “What do you think about it? What do you think about

me?”

“I think that you have some things that need to be worked on, just like I do,” said

Elaine. “If you stay with me, we can work on these things together.”

“Would you like to send for your family?,” said Jack. “I can do it.”

“I don’t have anyone, Jack,” said Elaine. “That’s why I came to the city to earn my

keep. I couldn’t stay in my home village.”

“So you would like to meet Juni?,” said Jack. “I was thinking about ditching her.”

“Ditching her?,” said Elaine.

“You know,” said Jack. He made a gesture to indicate movement. “Taking off in the

Enterprise and letting her hang out with the kids.”

“Josie would be angry if you did that,” said Elaine. “Your sister would be

disappointed. And your family should know how you are doing.”

“I guess you are right,” said Jack. “But my first instinct is to take off and avoid her

until she goes home.”

“Is that why you joined the Army?,” asked Elaine.

“I wanted to travel, and Uncle Sam will send you anywhere in the world as long as

you can shoot a rifle and don’t have too many physical problems,” said Jack.

“What about your sisters?,” asked Elaine.

“Juni is a fighter, Rose is a teacher, Lily is a paramedic, and Daisy is a delivery

driver,” said Jack. “They’re doing okay, I guess.”

“Are you embarrassed to be seen with me?,” asked Elaine.

“No,” said Jack. “I feel that you should be embarrassed to be seen with me.”

“Really?,” said Elaine.

“You are so good looking, you are so brainy, you are so capable,” said Jack. He

gestured at the vision of beauty beside him. “I’m a schlub.”

“I imagine that I only seem that good to you,” said Elaine.

“I can ask the kids and Josie,” said Jack. “They are better judges than I am.”

“We’ll do that when we get home,” said Elaine. “We’re out on our own. Calling them

will say we are not doing that good.”

“I think we are doing better than I thought we would,” said Jack. “I thought I would

be dead by now.”

“But you aren’t,” said Elaine. “And I would like to keep that as long as I can.”

“I should let you see the Enterprise,” said Jack. “It’s probably neutral about you, but

it should know who it is dealing with when you deal with it.”

“We’ll do that after the show,” said Elaine.

“It’s too bad that there aren’t any beds onboard,” said Jack.

“We’ll talk about that too,” said Elaine. She smiled at his expression.

“I can skip the show,” said Jack.

“No,” said Elaine. She smiled wider. “Welsher.”

“Fiend,” said Jack. He wrapped her in his arms and spun her around in the air. “I love

you so much.”

“The theater is a few streets over,” said Elaine. “We will be able to get seats in

the boxes so we can sit together without people pushing on us.”

“I am good with that,” said Jack. “We can also do other things.”

“Josie wants a report to show we went to the show,” said Elaine. She smiled at his

down face. “You’ll have to pay attention to the show.”

“She won’t know,” said Jack. He scratched the scar over his eye. He wasn’t as sure

as he tried to sound.

“You know better than that,” said Elaine. She smiled at him. “Josie is willing to see

the show to check against what you wrote.”

“She’s not my boss,” said Jack.

Elaine raised her eyebrows.

“She’s not,” said Jack. “But I will abide to keep the peace.”

“That’s good of you,” said Elaine. “Our dining awaits. We should do that before we

go to the theater. There will be food there, but I don’t think it’s very good.”

“Street vendors?,” asked Jack.

“Yes,” said Elaine. “But the food will be uneven. Some of it will be good, but

you have to look among the bad.”

Elaine took his arm and led him down the street. She pointed at the building that took

up a block on its own. A sign said it was the Gowran Theater. A wooden sign gave

them the times in yellow paint.

“It looks neat,” said Jack.

“The restaurant is over a few more streets,” said Elaine. She gestured for him to keep

walking. “The vendors will take up spots near the front of the theater closer to the

show times.”

“Have you ever eaten at this place?,” said Jack.

“No,” said Elaine. “I never had the money. The Tower didn’t pay me.”

“I’m glad you burned it down,” said Jack. “I might have done it if I had swung by

while working on other things. If Josie had made any connection between the place

and the Montrose, she definitely would have.”

“I have helped some of the others that have been freed from the inn,” said Elaine. “It

was a small use of the money you gave me.”

“Good,” said Jack. “We’re here to help people. It’s too easy to tear things down just

because we can. It’s a lot harder to help people who need it.”

“Is that why you helped Jane?,” asked Elaine. “She told us that you had freed

everyone and gave Corle’s treasure to them.”

“They were in cages on the backs of wagons,” said Jack. “The money was a side

issue. And then Corle tried to kill me, so that made it easier to do what I had to do.”

Elaine kissed him on the cheek. Then she led him by the hand into the restaurant so

they could have their romantic dinner.