Christmas in The Cage

The wan dusk betrays me. Some fated ray that had fought its way down to the floor of The Cage, wriggling and cutting its way down into the shadows of the twelve crime-riddled skyscrapers lit enough of my profile to reveal who I was. I silently curse that light as he speaks, the glowing coal of his cigarette bouncing as his lips moved:

"Well if it isn't old Ruby, come back to slum. What's an excapee gotta do up in orbit to get sent back here?" There were three, no four. Something in the body language told me about the one around the corner. As the speaker rises to his feet he inhales. That flare combined with the poisonous yellow neon of his cooling collar to reveal the ganger's face. Jacoby. Implant ripper, with the Saws. Memory put its spurs to the finely-honed instincts of the true Cage roach in me, despite the years I'd been gone.

"Jacoby! Good to see you while I'm back. How's Winger been?" I threw an arm up warmly, an invitation to embrace.

"Heart attack. Seth's in charge now." He takes a long look up and down me before coming in for the quick embrace. Two taps on the back, then pull away. "Strike out up there?"

I shake my head. "Back on biz. Found an excuse to come prowl."

"Can't take the Cager outta The Cage, huh?"

"Yeah. Here man." I pass him the rest of my smokes. "Tell Seth congrats for me, I have a meeting to be at."

"For sure, for sure. Stay shiny." I keep holding my breath until I hear him telling his three workers I was an old friend.

My hands are trembling. You don't feel yourself going soft. In my dreams of returning I was who I had been. But I have changed and this place had not. Has she?

Up Tower Six I go, hustling the stairs past the steady stream of vagrants and tired wagies. Insects huddling down into their nests same as I'd ever known. I double-check the floor and room, then rap my knuckles on the cheap plastiboard.

A scrawny teenager answers, confused. His mother from the back bedroom calls for him to hand me the envelope on the back of the door. Inside is another address, nearby.

My heart starts to beat faster. I traveled the whole Rim and back to see her. I jerk my chin at the boy as he starts to close the door:

"Can I use your 'fresher?" He shrugs and lets me in. A splash of water on my face and a minute of simple, basic attention settles my mind. My standards for personal hygiene have gone up a lot since I lived here, and I wipe a smear of who-knows-what off my dark red coat. I want to look like a million creds when she sees me again.

I don't remember the walk but as I enter the hallway the telltale brown smears on the floor beside a pile of empty needles returns me to awareness. This floor was foul and messy even by Cager standards with every light either flickering drunkenly or totally out. She'd picked it because nobody even wanted to sack out here. So she’s still living alone. She hasn't changed, and that thought brings a goofy grin to my face.

I knock without shedding it.

The door opens and there we are face to face. Her hand in its overlong sweatshirt sleeve immediately moves to bury her mouth as she half-turns away. "I said I wouldn't cry. I told myself I wouldn't cry when I saw you."

"You wanna cry in there or right here?" I pat my chest and open my arms for her, my own vision starting to blur a bit. "I don't care what you do as long as you're with me." She sniffles and tries in vain to breathe deep, taking small steps to me and curling herself against my shirt, rubbing her face back and forth as if burrowing.

"I've missed you so much." The words are muffled, tortured. Her grip is no less fierce than my arms are around her. We rock slowly.

"I hope it's enough of a gift that I'm here. Couldn't bring anything with me for the holiday."

"Yeah. I forgot about that all, trying to just hold it together when I heard you were coming back. Actually coming back to stay. Then you were late and I... I don't have anything special either.” She wipes her face with her hand and finally looks up at me, silent tears still streaming from her eyes.

My own tears start to fall on her cheeks as we stare at each other. Two years of sadness and longing between us was melting in these eternal moments. A whole universe is out there, and the organization I am responsible for spans a non-zero percentage of it. Quadrillions of credits flowing, hanging in the air. Thousands of colonies under thousands of stars but they mean nothing to me now.

I’m finally home.

"Welcome home Jack."

"Merry Christmas, Lacy."