Like a Daughter

Emma looked out of the shuttle window tears forming in the corner of her indigo-blue eyes.

“Goodbye Freya and thank you,” she whispered softly to herself, dabbing away the tears.

She took one last look at Mars, the red-brown earth, spiky grasses, and soft, smooth, pebble-like mosses, the only home she’d ever known, as the silver-grey craft deployed upward thrust and briefly hovered over the landing pad before embarking on its flight to Jupiter.

Freya felt uneasy as she drove down the pitted, dirt track, a mist of fine red dust in her wake. She’d been to the yard a few times with Richard, it wasn’t far from town but far enough to feel isolated.  Lyc’s OK when you get to know him, she heard Richard’s voice in her head, trying to reassure her. Sure, he’s rough around the edges and more cyborg than human but he’s put his past behind him since the accident. He’s a model citizen now, pays his taxes and everything. Anyway, you can’t beat his yard for the variety and quality of the scrap he’s got, and his knowledge of cybernetics is second to none based on experimentation on himself. I don’t know any scientist worth his salt who would do that. She could see Richard grin at her distaste. Somehow Lyc and Richard had formed an unlikely friendship over the years, the space pirate, and the government scientist and not a week went by when Richard wouldn’t visit the yard for something or other. Freya preferred to stay at home, yet here she was today. She smiled thinking about what Richard would’ve said if he knew. He would certainly have teased her for it mercilessly. She stopped in front of what looked like a large aircraft hangar, orderly piles of space scrap, grouped by type, to the left and right. Lyc stood at the entrance, a tall, imposing, muscular man, his cybernetically enhanced left eye scanning his visitor. His past was chiselled on his face and a large, jagged scar ran down his right cheek. Knowing he would be wary of strangers and most likely armed, Freya waited until she saw his shoulders relax before getting out of her Mars rover.

“It’s Freya, isn’t it?” asked the man.

Freya nodded.

“I was sorry to hear about Richard. He was a good man. I liked him. I’ll miss our chats.”

“He liked you too,” Freya replied quietly, fighting back the tears, not wanting to show her vulnerability in front of Lyc.

It had been six months since Richard had died and Freya missed him every day, the searing pain of grief hitting her when she least expected it, like now. It was the little things she missed most: the cup of tea he woke her up with each morning, the broad smile on his whiskery face at the anticipation of another new day or his deep belly laugh when she read him something funny from the planet news.

“How can I help you?” Lyc asked, bringing her thoughts back to the present.

“I’m looking for an android,” she replied.

Freya watched as Lyc removed a small electronic tablet from his back pocket, scrolling until he found what he was looking for.

“I don’t normally keep droids, more trouble than they’re worth, but I picked one up recently from a prospector in the black hills. Got it as a comfort droid apparently but said it wouldn’t do what he wanted it to do if you get my drift?”.

Freya watched as Lyc smiled lasciviously and she knew there and then that she would be taking the android with her, no matter what.

“Wait here, I’ll fetch it for you”.

A few minutes later Lyc returned carrying a female android which he dumped unceremoniously in front of Freya. Freya looked down at the young woman, her long dark hair matted with mud, pale skin mottled with dark bruises and her floral print dress tattered and torn. Freya gasped.

“Not a pretty sight admittedly,” Lyc said, mistaking Freya’s shock at the sight of the android as disappointment, “but won’t take much to patch it up”.

“I’ll take her,” Freya replied quickly, “how much do you want for her?”

“You can have it. No charge. Richard was a good customer, and it saves me the effort of breaking it up for the components. I’ll help you load it into your car”.

“Thank you,” Freya replied, “that’s kind of you”.

“You know where I am if you need anything, anything at all,” he said seriously after he had loaded the android into Freya’s car, “Richard was like a brother to me which makes you my family too”.  

A wave of grief suddenly washed over Freya and tears streamed down her cheeks. Lyc put his arms around her shoulders, guided her gently into his office in the hangar, sat her down and made her a cup of sweet tea. They sat in silence for some time, Freya feeling guilty at her negativity towards Lyc previously.

“I just miss him so much,” she said at last when she was ready to talk.

“I know,” Lyc said gently.