Page 190 of Seven Oars
He stopped as if gathering his thoughts on to tell next.
“You must have been precious to your family,” Rosamma said softly.
She wanted to hear his story, yet the beginning of the life he’d just revealed was so bright that she dreaded to know the events that had led him to where he was now.
“As any child, I was precious,” he agreed. “I was also willful and unruly, full of myself. By the time I reached the transition age and entered my defender training, I was a cocky little asshole who got in fights with fellow cadets and didn’t do well in training.”
“I don’t believe it,” Rosamma smiled, looking down at him fondly. “But maybe I do.”
“It’s true. I coasted on the fame of those who came before me. My father was a Chief Commander, the highest rank before the ruling class. My oldest brother was a decorated defender who was made a Lieutenant at a young age. My other two brothers were rising in ranks equally fast. Me—I barely passed the program requirements.”
“I suspect what you lacked in achievements you more than compensated for with confidence.” Rosamma patted his chest, picking up the measured beating of his hearts.
He cocked his head.“Up to a point. I did pass my defender training, but not at the top. That was a disappointment for my family.”
“Did you fly defender missions?” Eze asked.
“Never got to. I had just entered flight training when my father was entrusted with establishing an outpost on a remote planet that had negotiated Rix protection. He was to set up a base there. It was a great responsibility. A rewarding assignment. He had decided we should all spend a year of our lives in service to those people.” His tone changed subtly, bitterness entering his voice.
“I take it you didn’t want to go,” Rosamma murmured.
“C’mon now. I wasn’t interested in another year on the ground, on a remote shithole planet asphalting an airstrip for helpless little aliens.”
“And your brothers?” Rosamma asked.
He sighed then.“They saw it as my father did, as a compassionate and noble mission, befitting their standing. There were no objections from them. And when I acted out one more time, they took me behind the city wall and gave me a proper thrashing. I was still nursing a bruised rib when we lifted off.”
He was growing tired, and Rosamma didn’t think he would continue, but he did.
“It was the first serious beating I’d taken from men whose strength and skill were superior to mine in every way. It shocked me. I still remember the helplessness and the choking outrage at how unfair it was for them to assault a weaker opponent.” Fincros smiled without humor.“If I had only known then how timely their lesson would be…”
“Still, they shouldn’t have been rough with you. They were your brothers,” Gro remarked.
“As a beating,” Fincros countered,“it was nothing compared to what came after. Nothing at all…”
The Cargo Hold’soarscraped and chuffed in the ensuing silence. The sound was now as familiar to Rosamma as the singing of birds had been on Meeus. As the squeak of the front door when Ren would come home at night. As the rustle of book pages…
Those sudden memories were a kick in the gut.
They had all lost so much that keeping on, some days, seemed impossible.
“The outpost was expected to receive a robust defender regimen,” Fincros continued,“and my father wanted to arrive early to set things up. Our family left ahead of schedule.”
“Wait, your whole family went?” Rosamma asked.
“Yes.”
She shrank back a little.
“The pirates had found out about the Rix outpost and struck before the defenders could arrive. They didn’t expect us early. They’d already wiped out the locals and were still killing them when our cruiser landed. There’d been no warning…” Fincros took a shuddering breath.“We fought them. The last image I have of my father is him with a weapon in his hands, firing and shouting for my mother and sisters to take cover. My oldest brother was already down. Spilled blood on the weird blue grass… the sharp smell of burning plastics… I was shooting without aiming, screaming at my father to lift off… Then there was an explosion. The next thing I remember—I’m bound inside a space fighter, on my way to Sir-Sar.”
Fincros’calm voice didn’t dull the horror of his tale. Rosamma felt it in her bones, the violent chaos of the raid, the desperation of the Rix family caught in the middle. It was all too easy to imagine. She’d lived through a pirate capture—with him on the other side.
“My mother and I were the only survivors.” Air whooshed out of his nose on a hard exhale.“Before we got separated, she begged me not to die. I had no choice but to give her my word, knowing I had no real power to keep it. When times got tough, when I felt feral and ready to end it all, I clung to that promise. It kept me from the edge, even after she died giving birth to a child forced on her.”
“Oh, Finn…”
“I had never seen her again after that brief moment on Sir-Sar. I heard one of the chiefs claimed her for her perfect lineage. He wanted a defender child…”
