The Last Coffee Shop

Chapter 13: Danse, Danse Macabre

The first smugglers' hideout was apparently one of many, and their novelty wore off by about the third day. Mads found herself becoming more bored than anything else. For the most part, Luc and Graynard kept to themselves and rarely addressed her outside of commands such as "drink this," or "put this on." They were stingy with any more valuable information. While they seemed comfortable and happy together, both of them grew quiet and awkward when they remembered her existence.

Outside the skimmer and shelters, the Waste was a changeless expanse of choked and destroyed ground, only broken by masses of larger destruction that might once have been cities. As the miles flew by, Mads found her thoughts consumed by home, and an aching, teeth-grinding worry about what might be happening in her absence.

They couldn't be keeping the store open. Her grandmother had never had a head for the business side, and though Krill was capable, her training did not extend to management, bills, and the daily worries of running The Last Coffee Shop. And those were just the minor concerns. Mads was kept up at night by thoughts of her greenhouses. Was Krill able to keep everything weeded and watered on her own? Did she remember the intricacies of the systems, and how vital it was that everything continued in a stable fashion? And what about the bees? Just thinking about the bees made Mads want to scream in frustration. Of all the calamitous things that had befallen her in life, getting kidnapped was the absolute worst. Especially now that it was no longer interesting.

And now, they were stuck, stopped again as the ancient skimmer had broken down for the third time in two days. The skimmer's condition had made both Graynard and Luc irascible and reticent, and increasingly foul. Based on the color and variety of the language Graynard was using, Mads guessed that this time was the worst yet.

It took several hours of cursing and clanging in the dark before the speeder started up again. While Mads might have felt a little vindictive joy the first time the skimmer had skidded to an unscheduled halt, she was sick of it now. Wherever they were going, she couldn't get home until they got there first, and it was starting to seem like they were going to fly through the Waste for eternity.

She had dozed off from the boredom, only to awaken with a jolt as they stopped again. It seemed too soon for the skimmer to have broken down again, and Mads' noted a distinct lack of cursing. Instead, there was a distant roar and unfamiliar whooshing sound that reminded Mads of a busy spaceport. Graynard was already out of the skimmer, but Luc paused at the door to offer a torch to Mads. She took it without a word and followed him into the darkness outside.

Mads turned on her torch to see that they were on a large promontory, overlooking a deep, deep darkness that stretched out for unseen miles ahead. After a moment, Mads realized it was water, and the source of the noise. There was a rush and roar that almost drowned out Luc and Graynard unloading metal boxes behind her.

Mads flicked her pathetic beam out at the expanse. Brown foam formed on the waves below, and debris popped up and out with the water's eternal motion. Mads shone her light along the ledge. It stretched for miles, and was several hundred feet above the water. All that emptiness made Mads feel dizzy and small, and she marveled that the world was so big, and yet, so empty. And still, the waves went on, as they had since the beginning of time, without any regard for humans past or present.

"Are you coming?" It was Luc, seeming to materialize from the darkness beside her.

Mads gripped her flashlight. She could shine it in his eyes, blind him, and shove him into the merciless waves below. She could be done with him for good. So why did she hesitate?

"It's a stupid idea," said Luc, startling her because he'd just voiced her next thoughts. "If you kill me, it's just you and Graynard, and he's not as cuddly as he'd like you to believe. I think you're smarter than that."