Quoted By:
“…what’s done is done,” you say with a slight edge, “And…I’m mostly over it. Whether or not that’s the main reason is irrelevant. They get married, I was asked to be the best man. Two years later, Tom’s born, and I’m asked to be the boy’s godfather.”
The incredulous look she gives you all but questions your sanity. “And you said ‘yes’ to both?”
“…I was in a weird point in my life, Gully. Roughly around your age, I was still trying to figure stuff out and get my shit together.”
She makes a face at that. “Screw you, I’m twenty-six!”
Hah. You were twenty-five when Tom was born. If anything, that fact combined with her obsession with her past only cements your point about that age range. So full of confusion and uncertainty.
But you shake your head. “Everything was…fine. I was the extended family friend who became an honorary uncle. I tried…seeing other people. Over eight years, the longest I ever lasted was four months, and only because we happened to be working together. And I just…stopped trying after that ended.”
<span class="mu-i">“Here’s my answer, Sinny. If you ever change your mind…well, you’ve got my key. You know where I live, and where my cabin is aboard the Capone. And for what it’s worth…I don’t regret anything. Not one bit.”</span>
Eight years of trying to get over Caroline with little to no success. Eight years of being Jean’s best friend in spite of a planet-sized weight on your shoulder. Eight years of being Tom’s godfather. You’d slipped past your twenties and entered your thirties with over a dozen certifications, plenty of money, but no success in the pursuit of happiness.
Until everything changed forever. Clearing your throat, you continue, “Three years ago, there was an incident in Foggy Bottom. Maybe you heard of it. The <span class="mu-i">Juniper Star</span>?”
Gully frowns, thinking deeply. “…I think I was out at sea for the guild at the time. I heard what happened second-hand, but I heard enough to know that it was bad.”
That’s putting it lightly. “The <span class="mu-i">Juniper Star</span> was a cargo carrier, and the time, she was carrying radioactive waste for disposal out in the Atlantic. Y’know, dumping in the subduction zones, right where the tectonic plates meet.”
“I’m…vaguely familiar with the process.”
Jean had the day off, and Tom didn’t have any school. A father-son bonding trip, meandering through Dockside to look at all the shops, ships and goods that came in from across the Flooded World. An idyllic day that would take a turn for the nightmarish when their path intersected with the <span class="mu-i">Juniper Star</span>…
…and the crane loading the ship with nuclear waste, 450 kilos at a time, sixteen barrels on a single wooden pallet.
(cont.)
