Skye City: The Darkness of Emmilyn

Hanging Out

We are many days into our voyage to Larunya and the news from ground level so far is hardly encouraging. Thousands of demons are running amok, massacring everyone in sight and the military on both sides have their work cut out because these things can withstand all but the most powerful weaponry. The war has ceased while focus turns to exterminating these monsters, but by all accounts that is not proving an easy task. On the plus side there are still no reports of demon presence in any country bar Anatolia.

The big screen displays the remains of a winged humanoid on a battlefield as Nelson and I join his ex-rebel friends in a table booth on a dreary afternoon. Five of them are lazing across long spongy seats, chatting about the news footage as we take two of the regular chairs. Hanging with these guys is the closest thing to spending time with the gang back home, but it will never feel the same. They are slightly older and much scarier than my friends and it seems like everything I say is dumb, like I am the kid of the group. And I am.

Only one group member is female, Samaire, and she is so badass she makes Nyota seem like a girly girl. She is sitting before a row of empty shot glasses and a bloody bandage is wrapped around the stump where her right hand should be. Damn thing freaks me out, but I cannot stop staring and Samaire notices that I notice.

'Hey, Samaire, how's the arm feeling today?' I say, perhaps insensitively, but I feel so nervous around her that words just come out. And they are always the wrong words too.

'Still hurts like shit,' Samaire says and I wince, picturing the shrapnel injury which led to self-amputation. Anyone who can hack their own arm off is someone I want to stay on the right side of.

'At least it's not too long until the next stop-off,' I say, again feeling stupid like all I can offer is pointless niceness which only ever manages to annoy her. I feel like the person I have an obligation to bond with already hates me.

'Well, I'm not optimistic about obtaining medical treatment within a three hour refuelling, if that's what you're suggesting,' Samaire says.

'I'll have a word with the captain. I'm sure he can wait for you,' I say like I am suddenly a person of influence, just because I happen to be acquainted with Sydney Anguson. However, the captain seems quite friendly with my mother, even if he has barely said a word to me. And what kind of bastard would deny such a request, anyways? I cannot understand why he does not already have adequate medical supplies on board.

'Shit, I don't even know where this stop-off is, let alone whether there'll be any kind of medical facility,' Samaire says.

'Well, even if we just buy a load of painkillers and antiseptic...' I say like she has not already thought of that.

'We? You buying? I've barely got money for food on this trip, given how much I've spent on pain relief.' Samaire nods to her empty shot glasses. 'Dunno what's gonna happen when the captain realises half the ship are broke and hungry. There'll be a mutiny if he doesn't feed people.'

'I'm sure it won't come to that. If things get desperate we can sort something out,' I say optimistically. People nearly always prioritise their own pockets over someone else's stomach but these are the most exceptional possible circumstances. If any situation is going to make a human ditch greed...

'Well, you can do the negotiating, Em!' Nelson stretches his arms and legs and yawns. 'I'm just desperate to get off this thing for a couple of hours and experience a brief change of scenery. Maybe get out the sky port and look around town...'

'In the warzone?' I say, completely failing to see the appeal. I would prefer our refuelling stops were as short as physically possible because the ground is a literal hell and complacency is the most ill-advised trait a person could possibly possess. Who the fuck would take a fucking walk outside the sky port? My stupid boyfriend...

'Nah we're avoiding conflict zones. The stop-offs should be pretty low risk,' Adi says – a skinny guy with a shaved head and beige complexion who is sharing Nelson's cabin. And his stupidity.

'Best make sure you don't get lost though. If the airship leaves without you, you'll be well and truly stuck,' Samaire says.

'Yeah and the situation could change in an instant. Surely it would be best to stay in the sky port? I assume it has shops. Plus, you never know when troops or demons will arrive at any town,' I say.

'Good job we have our weapons then, isn't it?' Adi says.

'Wow, you guys brought your weapons on board?' I say, wondering why the rebels thought that necessary when the plan was to forget the war.

'What did you think we were gonna do, leave 'em behind?' Adi says.

'I guess not,' I say, remembering our group came armed so this should come as no surprise, but I had almost forgotten about the rifles under our bunks because I just want to never be in a position to need them again. I have killed a man, an enemy, because I had no choice, but it just seems wrong for people to have weapons aboard when we are all friends here. Still we cannot know what danger awaits in Larunya and it seems entirely possible I will have to kill again. I need to stop being so naïve. The airship feels increasingly like a troop carrier as though we are not quite done with this war. I just want to eliminate the need for guns but will true sanctuary be possible? Will the troops bother to invade such a distant land? Will those monsters travel so far? What if they are just phase one of an Eosian invasion? Fuck the more I think the scarier this gets. Deep breaths. Just block everything out and 'enjoy' the ride.

'So what you guys gonna do in some shithole for a couple of hours? See the sights?' Samaire says.

'Probably just hurry to an unrestricted shop in town and rob the fuckers if I'm honest. We're gonna need supplies,' Adi says and I raise my eyebrows, like because I have money, I, a lifelong thief, can take the moral high ground over another thief.

'That's a good idea actually. A pretty shitty idea, but a good one nonetheless,' Samaire says. 'Just make sure we get plenty of alcohol! We'll be running out of beer soon.'

Feeling hopelessly out of place, I leave the table booth alone and cross the deck to join my mother by the down-sloping window. We stand side by side and peer down at the everchanging Anatolian landscape which seems so pleasant and peaceful and perfect from this viewpoint. I perceive the thread-like roads, the occasional smudge of a village, but mostly just farmland, an endless patchwork of fields of different colours. Mother glances sideways; her eyes watery, her face still.

'What's up?' I say, bracing myself for her answer.

'I finally found my son after ten long years and wasn't able to connect with him. And now he's gone again. There might be no getting him back this time,' Mother says.

'After all the crap Arturo's survived? He may be a reckless fool, but somehow he always lands on his feet. And now he has three superhumans alongside him,' I say, sharing but resisting Mother's fear.

'But we don't know what's awaiting in Larunya. We don't know what's gonna be left of Anatolia. We might have no way of getting in touch,' Mother says and it feels almost like a role reversal, like she has found my anxiety and I have found her strength.

'Let's just take things one at a time. We can use the captain's holoscreen when we land. I'm sure he won't mind. He seems fond of you. We'll send Arturo our coordinates and stay close by. That way, even if we don't receive his reply, he'll know where to look,' I say.

'What if he doesn't come? What if he doesn't want to see me?' Mother says.

'Oh, he'll come alright. The one thing my big brother will never admit is he needs me to look out for him. He tells himself it's the other way around, but he knows he'd be lost without me. And when he gets here I guarantee I'll shake some sense into him. He will come around. We're family,' I say, unsure those words are reassuring my mother, but they are reassuring me a tad.

'I really hope you're right, Emmi. I'd best see what Kyan's getting up to. Last I saw him, he was playing hide and seek with the other kids below deck.'

'Well, it's good to see he's making friends.'

We turn away from the window and as our mother heads for the stairs, I notice Nelson swipe a half-eaten chicken leg from someone's plate and slip it into his pocket, but I sit at an empty table and pretend I never saw anything.