“Are you coming home for Passover, honey?”
“And send Ari a kick in the ass for me… Um, what?” Indy Smyth practically dropped the phone in her hand as she slipped a little on the dock. The ship, the Artful Dodger, was currently docked in New York City and taking on new crew members and goods. And of course, Indy was in charge of making sure everything went smoothly. Her job as head of security wasn’t an easy one, but she loved it all the same. Her mother was, however, very upset that her oldest child’s job took her far, far away from home. Indy didn’t usually like going home. As much as she did love her family, she couldn’t connect with them. But her mother insisted on having Indy come home for every holiday. And they celebrated both Christian holidays and Jewish holidays, which kept her mother very busy in the decorating department.
“I… I don’t know Mom; the ship is scheduled to be in Detroit then. It’s touching down for repairs and upgrades, but I don’t think the captain would let us go for the week. We still have deliveries to make.”
“You work so hard, Indy. Don’t you think you could just take a small break from guarding televisions, and transporting prisoners?”
Indy rolled her eyes, and put the phone against her shoulder. “Ajay, I need to finish this call, can you take over, please?” Ajay was her assistant and childhood friend. He had run away to find adventure, far away from the controlling atmosphere of his own home, or at least that’s what Indy knew. She didn’t care to know more, even if Ajay didn’t want to talk about it.
“Do I need anything for this?” The young man flexed his muscles and pulled out a permanent marker from his pocket, looking ready to jot something down.
Indy rolled her eyes, yet again. She rolled them so much, she was surprised they hadn’t detached from her head. Ajay wasn’t too bright, but he liked to show off his ability, especially around the new recruits. And the pretty girls ogling him from a nearby sailboat.
“Just… something intimidating. We might have a couple of live ones on our hands today.”
Ajay nodded and sketched out a length of heavy chain on the back of his hand, grinning as it appeared at his feet. Anything drawn on his skin became material, and stayed that way until it washed off. He had a couple weapons permanently tattooed on his body, and therefore, they were also permanent.
“Will this work?” He said, sliding the chains around his hands, and trying to look intimidating. It was working, a little bit. Indy, however, wasn’t impressed. She had known him since they were little. She nodded and went back to her phone call.
“Sorry, Mom, work. I can’t just take a week off; I need this job, just as much as Ari needs to finish college. He’s who you have to worry about.” There, passing it off onto her baby brother.
“Anyway, Mom, I need to go, things to do in the city before we take off. When we land in San Francisco, I’ll try and visit. Give Dad and Uncle my love, and tell Uncle I’m expecting a decent sparring match if I come visit.” She hung up, and headed for the trains to the city center. It was going to be a long stop, she just knew it.
*
“But they had blenderrrrrrs!”
Even though she was nearly sixteen, Louisa Dalley was hopelessly childish. But there was no blaming her when there were great big signs declaring that the shiny chrome food blenders were fresh from the World’s Faire. Louisa had stood in the window of the appliance shop much longer than her mother thought was proper for a young lady. And they wouldn’t have been able to afford to buy one in any case. Now her mother was dragging her daughter down the busy New York street, heading for the train station.
“Careful!” Louisa’s mother ducked as sparks rained down from the above ground train, singeing their heavy wool coats. “They really should do something about those trains. Those sparks are a menace! It would save on the mending. Now stop gawking and hurry up, we’ll miss our train.” Her mother tugged on Louisa’s hand, and headed into the busy station.
People walked with purpose in the main station. It was the center of the city’s transportation. The only people milling about underneath the time clock were tourists, who checked the time tables, then craned their necks upward to match the time with the hands of the giant clock.
Louisa didn’t feel like going home just yet. She had a plan. Once they boarded the train, Louisa slipped back to the end of the car. Her mother didn’t even notice. She was so tiny, hardly anyone noticed her.
She was fully grown but barely reached 5 feet tall, even in her hand-me-down heels. Her woolen coat covered fully functional, iridescent wings. Her own family did not have any abilities. And to keep them from being rounded up and traded like so many cattle, the family patriarch, Louisa’s grandfather, set up a colony in the abandoned underground train tunnels. Her family was proud of the fact that it was the largest colony on the East Coast.
Louisa was a fluke, a throwback to her ancestors in Ireland. Even with her abilities, she was expected to stay in the colony, and start a family. All she wanted to do was travel. Her abilities afforded her an education, and she was quickly becoming one of the best pilots in her age class. She still had two years left to go, but many of her professors said she would be able to graduate in another year.
The train beeped at her usual stop but she didn’t get off. She pulled a woolen hat over her platinum blond hair, and sat down. This train was headed for the shipping docks.
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