"Captain Drake, we're approaching Tombstone's bubble!" Lieutenant Brunhild yelled as the ship shook around them.
"Don't slow down." A deep voice rumbled out behind her in the captain's chair of the small cockpit, and a whisp of smoke tickled her nose.
"Full power to the engines," she said into the silver tube beside her before putting it back against the console.
The ship's wheel shook in her hands, and she wasn't sure if she could hang on. They had taken the fastest ship they had that could carry at least ten of their team. The ship was one of the first of its kind, a jet-propelled slipship that could cut through the nightsea like a bullet. The only issue was that the blasted contraption tried to shake itself apart when running at its top speeds.
"Don't slow down for an instant. We're going straight to Agent Five's last known location. Section Zero will never let us live it down if we lose one of their agents to an outlaw!"
A red-scaled claw reached out from behind her, the talons pinching into Brunhild's black uniform but not piercing through. She reached up with one hand and pushed her short-cut blonde hair from her ears before returning her hands to the wheel.
"Do you think he's alive, sir? This is 'Tin Man' Ortega we're talking about."
"He's intelligent." More smoke rose behind her, and Brunhild had to wave it away with one hand. "He knows to run away if he can't take a fight."
"We're at entry!"
Through the window in front of her, the bright light of Tombstone's atmosphere filled her vision.
The ship shook and rumbled in her hands, and she could hear her subordinates yelp through the tube at her side. Brunhild grunted as she held onto the wheel with all her strength. She would have to reprimand them later.
Crack. Boom.
The ship shook and tilted forward as the white light was replaced by a sunlit day over sparkling blue waters. Brunhild pulled up on her wheel hard, trying to take control of the ship. It shuddered as it righted itself, and she tilted it back so that the ship was parallel with the sea below.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
"Captain, we've lost all but one engine," Brunhild said, looking over the readouts on the panel in front of her. "We won't make it beyond the shore at this rate!"
"Dr. Oz's creations are always more trouble than they're worth.” More smoke rose from behind her. "Take us to the nearest port. We'll have to find transport on the island.
"Yes, sir!"
Brunhild turned the ship in the sky, using a map of the island on her display to guide the ship. With only one engine, they had slowed to a crawl. They could barely keep this ship up in the sky under their thrust with the reduced lodestones on the ship by design.
"We're coming for you, outlaw." Captain Drake growled behind her, and more smoke filled the cockpit.
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Alex brought the ship down, this time more gently than he had when they came down toward the mines. He didn't have to worry about dodging creatures in the mist anymore now that the mist was gone. Sam looked out from the deck where she sat, holding onto the rails with a white-knuckled grip as they flew over the farms around Dry Gulch. Alex didn't need to look far to find where to land.
Smoke still rose from the burnt farmhouse, and the destruction was more visible from the air. The flames had consumed the entire orchard, and the farmhouse was a mix of stone and ash. The only thing left over was the barn and the fenced-in chicken coops. Alex brought the slipship down in the barnyard. Sam was completely silent, her gaze locked on the orchard and farmhouse as they came down.
Alex said nothing as he kicked the rope ladder to the ground below, climbed down, and anchored the ship. What could he say? Sorry for getting your house burned down. Sorry that confronting Goldfist and Silvertooth cost you so much. Sorry that your brother died before we even met. Too much had happened to the girl over the last few days. The worst part was that Alex knew he would add just one more thing to that. He grimaced.
"Sam, we're secure," he said.
"I'm coming," Sam said, climbing down the rope ladder as he had and landing on her boots at the very end. "I need to check on Winny and feed the chickens."
Without missing a beat, she was off on her routine, and Alex followed after her. He wouldn't just run off. That would be a betrayal of the trust she had put in him over the last few days. He waited as she let out the chickens and threw feed out into their yard. He waited again as she opened up the barn doors and patted Winny's head. The donkey gave a huff in response.
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"It's all over, isn't it?" Sam asked after she was done, wiping her hand on a rag as she looked over the ruins of her home. "Everything is done, and you don't have any reason to stay."
She was turned away from Alex. He couldn't see her expression, but there was a shake in her voice. She was ready to fall apart, and he knew it. It made him feel all the worse for what he had to do next.
"Yeah," Alex said, putting his hands in his duster pockets. "I need to get out of here before the Military Police get here. They won't stay long if I'm not here."
"Just like that?"
"That's the kind of life I live," Alex said. "Going from place to place, meeting new people. Getting in fights, tearing down bad guys."
"That sounds so lonely.” Sam still didn't look at him.
"It can be," Alex said. "But at the same time, it isn't. Every island is a new experience. A chance to meet new people. A chance to see things that I've never seen before. In just the last five years, I..."
He stopped. He forgot what he was working for whenever he said it. It was like he didn't care about going home. That was wrong. Everything he had done in the last five years was bent toward the goal of getting home. Sure, things had happened, but that didn't mean he didn't want to see his parents again.
"Sorry," Alex said, looking up at the slipship.
"Don't be."
Orange light peeked from the horizon, and soon, it would be morning again. Already, the moon was setting in the west. It wouldn't be long before it was another day, and Alex couldn't wait any longer.
"Can I come with you?"
The question caught Alex off guard. He looked down and saw Sam staring at him. Her eyes were brimming with unshed tears, and her mouth was set in a tight line. It wasn't a spur-of-the-moment question. She was very serious.
"I don't have anything in Dry Gulch anymore. Josh is gone. My parents are gone. Now, even the orchard and house are gone. I don't have anywhere left to go."
Alex looked out over the farmhouse and to the orchard beyond. She was right, in a way, but there was no way he would take her with him. That would be practically the same as sending Sam to her death. He knew that. The way he lived his life was too dangerous for her.
"Come here," Alex said, keeping his hands in his pockets as he walked over toward the farmhouse.
The smell of soot and ash filled his nose, even though the fire was long over. Heat still radiated out from the beams of wood that were strewn across the house. Alex walked past it and out into the orchard. Most of the trees had fallen over and collapsed, cracking from the heat of the fire and falling over as they were reduced to ash. Only a few were left standing.
Alex walked over to the centermost tree of the orchard, near the pond that he had looked in just two days ago. Despite the destruction, two gravestones stood beneath one of the few intact but ashen trees.
Alex saw what he was looking for and reached down to pick up a blackened apple. It was blackened and burnt, and his hands were soot-stained as he held it up. He turned to Sam and held it up so she could see it.
"Do you see this?" he asked.
"It's ruined." Sam frowned, leaning forward. "Like everything else, it was ruined by Silvertooth."
"Maybe.” Alex reached out a hand and opened his gate.
It didn't take him long to find what he was looking for. He had scattered so many implements across the orchard during his fight with Silvertooth, and he hadn't cleaned up after. A single knife was easy enough to find. It flew through the air, and he caught it by the handle.
"Take a look at this," Alex said as he cut the apple open in his hand, holding the blade as he rotated the apple around in his fingers.
He let the apple fall open in his palms. The inside flesh was a sickly brown, and the apple had burst along its edges, but what he wanted her to see was still inside. Sam bent over his palm and squinted at the apple's core.
"Seeds."
"Even with all this suffering, all this pain, and all this destruction, the seeds are still there," Alex said as he dug out a few with the tip of the knife. "Life goes on, and on, and on, even when the entire world turns against us."
He held out a few seeds on the knife, and Sam reached out to catch them. She looked down at the seeds as Alex worked through the second core. He worked carefully, making sure he didn't miss a single one.
"You have to understand this, Sam. You're like these seeds. You're just starting on your life. Someone may have burned the entire orchard around you, but if you plant yourself in the ground, you'll grow up into a full tree before long."
He deposited the remaining seeds in her hand before dropping the knife and apple. He gestured out to the remains of the orchard around them. All around, he could see burnt apples on the ground, each full of their own seeds.
"Your suffering doesn't have to own you. The pain of the past doesn't determine your future. Make your own path in the world, Sam." He placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her his best smile. "Coming with me now would be like taking those seeds away from the orchard. Grow and find your way. It may not be here in Dry Gulch, but I can tell you that it isn't with me either."
Sam looked between him and the seeds, the tears she held back flowing freely. Alex patted her on the shoulder but kept his eye on the sky. The sun was rising, and he couldn't wait much longer. Every moment he spent was precious.
"You're going."
"Yeah," Alex said. "Don't forget what I said, Sam. With any luck, you'll see me again someday."
He turned and walked away. He made sure he didn't glance back at the smoldering orchard. If he did, he might cry himself. Even after knowing the girl for a few days, he wanted to help her. Her life was an entire deck of unfair cards, and the last few days had just made the whole thing worse.
He pulled out the anchor on the slipship and pulled it up behind him as he climbed up the ladder. With a pull of a lever, it was back in motion, the light of the rising sun filling up the sails and breathing new life into the slipship's engine. Alex turned the ship over the farmhouse and flew out to the orchard, reaching in his pockets as he held the engine's throttle.
He tossed out a small bag that jingled with the sound of dolers inside as he went over the orchard. It landed at Sam's feet as he let go of the throttle and sped away. He waved as he flew off to the west, and he could see Sam below waving back. With that, he knew she would be alright.