After a hour of flying, Julius soon sighted the wind and water farm that his uncle, Maximus Bechman, owned.

  The steel outpost was similarly built like the way-stations, with the air balloons and its underside jet system with all the extended copper conductors for the storms that pass by. But what was unique about this outpost and others like it was that the wind turbines that were placed on the outskirts of the platform were set on loosened swivels at their bases. Which meant that when a strong gust of wind came by, the wind turbines would turn with the wind and allow its power to roar between the blades.

  All of the aero-power would be channeled and fed into the numerous underground canisters of Tesla stones. These stones would be ministered by electrical sensors so that none be overloaded and cause an electrical fire. These explosions have been know to happen if left unattended. Once charged up, Julius’ uncle would have them transported to way-stations or other outposts in dire need for such stones. Well charged materials were rare, making people like Maximus invaluable. And because he only did business with homes or business independent of Millenia City’s conglomerate reach, made him somewhat of a local hero of the working class.

  As for the water, which all organic and non-organic creations needed, was collected in tall iron silos with slats to allow the rainwater through. This pistol had four, one for each perceived corner. Of course, each silo had a filtration system in place to clean the water of any impurities. But this was not such a priority as people believed they couldn’t get rainwater cleaner than it already was. This was sold for nutrition, but also for engines needed fresh water for the steam or for emergency cooldowns during fires. Again, invaluable to airfarers who travel on a budget.

  Julius saw the laundry of a family hanging on cords between two iron posts. A woman he did not recognise was flapping some cloths before hanging them up. She was in the process of grabbing another from the basket, but she noted the ship nearing. She instead grabbed her basket and rushed back into the house.

  There was no grass veranda. No tree nor bushel or any other greenery in sight. It was a dark, metal structure. No nonsense, no frills. Just honest hard oil and metal, with sharp edges and weathered facades. Much like the family that owned it.

  The house itself was a large cottage by all extents. Three floors, a thatched roof with clay cladding underneath, brick-built walls with limescale painted on its face. Two windows on each face of each floor. The red door closed shut behind the woman with the laundry.

  It was a home built for a family. Julius raised an eyebrow. A family that got bigger, as he recalled seeing only two floors that last time he was home.

  Home. He felt a pang in his chest. This wasn’t home for him anymore. He needed to remember that.

  The front door reopened and a middle aged man strode out.

  Wiry, lean but agile. Very much like Julius’ father in all aspects, save one. Whilst Julius’ father, Darius, had darker hair the shade of coal, Maximus had hair of a steel grey. It was an odd thing to see a child with such hair colour. And as a child, Maximus was teased ruthlessly for it. But that only steeled the boy’s resolve, turning the once shy boy into a hardened and stern man.

  Maximus had on a woollen coat and worker trousers as he moved down the platform, the steel toe-capped boots clanking heavily on the metal surface. He stopped short of few metres from the edge, fists on hips and staring hard-eyed at the ship.

  Julius needn’t had worried for his uncle’s safety, being so close to certain death. The boots he wore - and most of all the workers lucky enough to find, steal or marginally afford - were slightly magnetised. Not so much that one would be rooted to the spot, that would be counterproductive. But should a rogue gust of wind, a freak blast of lightning or an explosion occurred, there would be no slipping or sliding on Maximus’ watch.

  Julius pulled up the Hunter to face its starboard side towards Maximus. Julius then stood up and waved nervously towards his uncle.

  His uncle, standing there in silence, cocked his head as he locked his stern eyes onto his only nephew. He then studied the ship, from bow to stern, mast to keel. He nodded, held up a hand to say wait, turned and walked back into the house. He had not said a word.

  Selena watched the man leave their sight. “Well, just as charming as you.” She sneered.

  Julius ignored her comment for once. He remained on the spot, waiting with some fear that the banishment still upheld its painful grip on his family.

  How long had it been? Three, four years- no. It was five. Five years of no contact. No messages. No dispatches. Not even a raise nor coded message from the telecommunicater. His family was serious when they said no contact. And they had meant it. Five years… 365 days a year. Nearly two thousand days of familial isolation.

  Julius slumped against the helm. This was pointless. This was dumb. Why would he think any different?

  “Leave it.” He said as he began to restart the stern. “We’re wasting time.”

  “Oh!” Carter spoke and pointed.

  Julius perked up and looked.

  Maximus had returned. He was walking from the house and pointing towards the port side of the outpost. There was a small console and control panel set up there. Maximus stood by the console, pressed some buttons and twisted some levers.

  Julius heard a mighty groan of steel shearing against steel. And before his eyes, he saw a single pier, small enough for just one ship or two bikes, extended out from the edge next to the console and Maximus.

  And Maximus pointed towards the pier and gave Julius a small and very, very brief thumbs up before retreating to the house.

  Selena nodded with some satisfaction. “Fair enough. Nice chap.” She looked to Julius and she stared. “Julius?”

  Julius was watching his uncle walk away. He then suddenly remembered to breathe. And something wet trickled from his eyes. He wiped his face before Selena to pursue her train of thought. “Come on.” He growled, forcing the emotion of what occurred down for later expulsion. He started up the ship and slowly guided her towards the pier.

  After Selena had leapt down and looped the mooring chains to the pier, Julius landed the ship on the five iron hooks that curved wide and far to allow the breadth of the hull to sit snugly in its metal embrace beside the pier. Credit to the architect of the outpost, for it did not tilt in the slightest from the extra weight now resting on its port side.

  The three disembarked via a cranked out gangplank and headed towards the house.

  “When you say dead to you…” Selena asked. “You mean disowned.”

  “Yes.” Came Julius’ clipped reply. He was looking, feeling and acting antsy. Selena saw it clear as day. He was terrified.

  “Well, what did you do?”

  “I was an asshole.”

  “I know that. Aside from that.”

  “Knowing them… you’ll know soon enough,” Julius finished as he neared the front door and knocked twice.

  They waited for maybe two seconds until the door was flung open by a shorter woman than the one they had seen. Her chestnut hair was short and curled, with deep greys at the roots. She wore a painter’s apron with flecks of colours all over her apron, arms, legs and face. Her skin was stretched and withered, but Julius could still see the dark brown intensity in those two eyes. The creative spark that only his aunt and Maximus’ wife, Kelly Bechman, had.

  Julius expected the shouts. The tears. The outrage. That was all he had got from her when he last haunted this very doorframe. He even winced at the door opening.

  But he did not expect the hug.

  Kelly leapt up and embraced Julius, arms around his neck and sobbed wildly into his shoulder.

  “You came back!” Was her first words as she started to soak his collar with tears.

  Julius froze. He did not know what to say. What to do. He just stood there still and as awkward as a naked man in a wedding procession.

  Julius raised his hands and slowly patted her back gently. “Hello Aunty.” He said. And that broke him.

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  The emotion came from nowhere, well maybe it was there this whole time. Just sitting in etc pit of his soul and waiting for the chance to leap up and ruin his stoic performance. And by God, it chose the perfect time to do it.

  Julius began to weep. He grabbed hold of Kelly and held her in her embrace. The two cried joyfully as Selena and Carter watched on in levels of stupefied confusion.

  “You comin’ in, boy?” Maximus approached the door. He was a head and shoulders higher than Julius, making the man a good 6 and a half feet tall. “Or will you cry to the point of dehydration?”

  Kelly whipped her head towards her husband. “Max, honestly.” She chided.

  Maximus shrugged and turned back into the house.

  Kelly turned back to Julius and stroke his face. “Oh, you haven’t been shaving. Come in, come in, all of you!”

  She grabbed a hold of Julius’ arm and led him in, still blubbering like her. Selena and Carter followed with silence bemusement.

  Selena leant towards Carter. “Never let me forget this.” She demanded.

  “Of course.” He replied with a small chuckle.

  Inside, they sat on the large circular oak table in the main dining room. It was the first room to enter in the house from the outside. The kitchen was tucked in one corner and the pantry in another. The staircase to the other floors was at the back, which a heat curtain was drawn. Julius remembered that that was to keep the stench of food away from the bedrooms. Little facts about this house and his family were coming back to him.

  The bread that was on the table, Kelly had baked herself and never once in all the time Julius had stayed here, had he seen her ever buy baked bread or pre-made goods from a Hermes Corp. shopping barge. It was always fresh, slightly salted and filled with seeds. She did all of her cooking by herself, never once allowing anyone to help her. Not that she needed it. She was a master in her field and woe betide to anyone who got in her way.

  The house’s lights were strong, reliable items that his uncle had been given by an unknown developer in New Malta Market, the largest town in the Atlantic. Years ago, Uncle Maximus was an early investor in the developer’s idea for new ecological lights, using less energy for more outage. He was in the market, getting spare parts for his first two wind turbines. People believed it couldn’t be done, as the wattage of a Tesla stone would short-out any bulbs lesser than industrial or fluorescent. They all stated that the process was hopeless. No one helped the developer, leaving her in obscurity. But Maximus had faith and backed the experiment with a steady flow of cash because ‘it was the decent thing to do’.

  And now, the family had practically limitless lighting for years and the now famous Luminary Bulbs is equipped on nearly all the airships, bikes and other traversal machines in the world.

  They sat there, Julius, Selena and Carter as Kelly set down ceramic plates with cutlery and napkins. Soon she brought food and drinks; honey roasted ham with fruits and cheeses and bottles of chilled white wine.

  “This is something else, Aunty.” Julius said with wonder. “Thank you.”

  Aunt Kelly beamed. “Augustus is a chef in a 2nd Tier restaurant in the capital, so he had plenty of pull and money to get us the best foods. I don’t even need to shop much anymore. He’s one the best chefs they have. And we get to enjoy his art as well!”

  Augustus. Wow. He was just a young lad of 20 when Julius had left. Now he was a fully grown chef, ruling the culinary world in the greatest city in the world.

  “And what about Elissa?” He asked about his other cousin. Aunt Kelly grinned. “Oh yes, she has been busy. She enrolled at the Militant Academy a few years ago. She’s the first lieutenant of a frigate called the Lancer, patrolling the Artic Edge. She’s getting married soon. This is her fiancé, Patsy.”

  She thumbed over to the young woman that Julius had seen by the laundry. She was busy folding the dry clothes into a different basket and gave the people at the table a shy glance and nod. She looked pretty. A quiet sort of pretty with a demure look in the eye. Quite the opposite of who Julius knew to be the rambunctious Elissa. The same Elissa who, back when they were young, would have dared her brother and Julius to balance one legged on the steeple of the house during storms.

  Julius smiled and waved back at his potential in-law. He was happy for them. And then he felt a deep pit of melancholy.

  Had he really missed that much from the last five years? Of course he did. Five years is a long time. And he had done nothing as worthwhile as what his family had done.

  He glanced around at the artwork adorning the walls. All of them were his aunt’s work. They were all life pieces. Animals, people and machines. One stood out the most. A pod of sky-whales, similar to the ones he encountered this afternoon. It looked beautiful, it even brought a serene feeling to his mind. She was truly gifted.

  His mind was distracted by the footsteps of his uncle, Maximus. He stepped down the stairs and turned into the dining room. He drew up a chair and sat down, facing Julius.

  He rested his hands on the table and watched his nephew in a clam silence. Julius felt a little tightness in the throat, being under the gaze of his uncle. It was like he reverted back to being a little child in the man’s presence.

  “This is very lovely, Mrs Bechman.” Selena said with an easy smile. Carter, who felt more out of place than ever, nodded his silent assent as he helped himself to a slice of bread with butter.

  Kelly grinned at her. “Please, it's just something fun I made, it's nothing special.” Kelly leant forward, studying Selena. “I must say, you are a beautiful girl.”

  Selena raised her eyebrows and laughed modestly. “That’s very kind, thanks. You look great too. I mean, you all look good. And this place, its wonderful.”

  Maximus nodded. “It’s a good place. Safe, dependable. Welcome to anyone who needs help.” He pointedly looked at Julius. “Anyone is welcome.”

  Julius rubbed his hands under the table, a habit he did as a child when he was nervous. He had thought he had grown out of it. But being back here… it undid all the walls and mysteries he had built for his reputation.

  “Which makes me wonder…” Maximus finally said, addressing the elephant in the room. “Why are you here, boy?”

  Julius chewed his teeth. He felt Selena and Carter look to him, clearly trying to not get involved in his family business. They were spectators and they resolved to stay that way. Julius clears this throat and explained.

  “I’ve got a contract on me. Not my fault. But its big and there’s some men coming for me. I came here for help. I need a bike. That ship is too slow for me, they’ll catch me eventually. But the bike will be my best chance to outrun them.” He sighed through his nose, feeling the weight of the stress lift off from him, even if it was for just a moment. But that moment he cherished.

  Maximus drummed his fingers on the wood. He was quiet in thought.

  Kelly watched her husband, trying to read his thoughts from the inscrutable expression on his face.

  Julius watched him too, expecting him to ask that Julius leave the home and never return.

  Both Selena and Carter involuntarily leant away from the table, showing their neutrality.

  Maximus looked up from the table.

  His thoughts were done with their exercise in his mind.

  “Five years ago, you and I came to a decision.” His voice was flat and stern, though not charged with emotion but of rationale. “That your wasteful ways would bring about destruction for you and those you tied yourself too. Despite my best efforts, and that of your aunt, you refused to heed our advice. You were determined to chart your course in the sky. At the loss of the only family you had. You stood by the notion that this vocation - as you had called it. I refused to be associated with that sort and the profit to be made from such ways. As a result, we banished you. I had given you up for dead. We all did. Augustus was heartbroken. Elissa was enraged. But you stood by your decision. And as much I cared to wish it, I am not your father. To tell you - to force you - on how to live your life is not my right. And you made that point exceptionally clear.”

  Julius bit his bottom lip, forcing the tears back from his eyes. He merely nodded, showing his uncle his understanding.

  Maximus continued. “But then three years ago, Elissa came home. With a pamphlet. A list of names which the military were privy to. A list of contractors which the Navy would ask assistance for operations outside of the capital’s reach. Your name was on that list. A contractor. No longer a pirate. Elissa was relieved, not only that you were still alive but that you were no longer a criminal. She fights for justice, that one. We knew then that you had changed. Or that something changed you.”

  He leant forward. “And now you are here, asking for our help.”

  Julius nodded.

  Maximus nodded back. “And you will have it.”

  Julius blinked. “What?”

  But his uncle held up a hand. “On one condition. You do this, you will get what you asked. I ask this question of you, because I demand to see what measure of man you are. One who turned away from family to criminality, only to flee from that vocation with such speed. I want to know this and this must be the truth: why did you leave Dandelion’s crew?”

  Selena turned to Julius and stared at him. Carter watched the table, but his own eyes widened like saucers, now that the truth was spoken.

  Patsy and Kelly steeled up their backs at the question and watched Julius for his reply. Maximus laid back in his chair, having made his point well know. Julius felt like a piece of paper over a candle. Crumpled, weak and ready to catch alight from the stares he received. He looked around at them.

  Carter was refusing to look at anyone. This entire situation was beyond him and he was out of his depth already.

  His uncle was a silent statue. Watching his nephew with judgement reserved.

  His aunt and sister-in-law were quiet too, though both held caring expressions for him.

  And Selena… he met her eyes. There was still the anger there. Yes, that was still there and possibly would be there for the rest of their lives. He did not and would never fault her for it. But there was a new emotion in there. Curiosity. No one, save for Julius’ immediate family and Carter, knew of the connection between Julius and Dandelion. It was safer for him and for everyone else. To be associated with the ‘Skinner’ would have been bad for business and perilous to say the least. He also - and this made him feel lower than a worm - just didn’t trust Selena enough with that information. Who knew who she could have spoken to afterwards? It was a chance he couldn’t take. Not that matter anymore, especially after how he and her parted ways.

  He turned away from Selena’s gaze and found his eyes settling on the portrait of the sky-whales he had noted. That brought him back to the afternoon with that similar pod. And the feeling he felt flying with them. The freedom. The carefreeness of it all. He longed for that.

  After all, part of his reason for joining Dandelion in his adventure was originally so he would be tied down by nothing nor no one. How much of that changed in just a few short years…

  “I suppose…” Julius looked at Selena and Carter. “And this is for the sake of present company, I start from the beginning?”

  “If you believe it will help you…” Maximus proffered his hand to Julius, as if he be a judge and allowing Barrister Julius to take the floor. “Take all the time you need.”

  “I’ll boil us some tea.” Kelly said with a pensive expression as she rose. Tea as this late hour would only mean an arduous discussion was at hand.

  Julius rubbed his face, sniffed sharply to clear his nasal passages, sighed sharply and began his tale.