The Spaces in Between (31 page)

Cameron pulled himself to his feet and made a Vanna White gesture through the air. “All this.”

“Are you taking the credit for every good fortune we’ve had?”

“Well they’ve come as a result of meeting me. If you don’t toot your own horn then no one else will.”

“Then you should take the credit for the hell we’ve been through too!” Warren pulled his arm back again. It snapped through the air, but caught nothing but a slip of paper. Cameron was now standing on the deck of the
Soulforge II
and the gangplank was now gone. “What the hell is this?”

“All good gifts should come with a card,” Cameron shouted over the bow. “Now enjoy while you can. Ta-ta!” The light of the
Soulforge II
flashed and once Warren got his eyes open again it was gone. He walked back over to Janet and closed her mouth for her.

But it quickly came open again and spat out three shrieks. “WHAT. THE. FUCK?” Warren opened the envelope and read the card. He reread the card. His face turned into a beet red, and he passed the card to Janet. “You should have hit him a lot harder.”

3

Mr. and Misses Warren Elliot and soon to be Mr. And Misses Janet,

I hope you’ve enjoyed your gifts. Now I’ve got a little favor to ask you. Don’t make that expression, Warren, I’m not asking you to be my first mate. I’m having a helluva time trying to find a good replacement for Ryoma, but I think I’ve found one. Now for a confession. Are you sitting down? How about now? No? Well, don’t blame me for any future head injuries.

There is no good way to sugar coat it so I’m going to put it bluntly. Janet is not carrying your child, but mine. Now hold on a minute its nothing like that. The child is not her’s either. Or rather not one of her eggs. Think of it more as a surrogate. See the biological mother lives in a place where one of our years only equals a day so you could imagine that such a pregnancy would take a very long time. She agreed after a very vicious custody battle so to speak.

So what I need you to do is raise that child for five to seven years when I will get a hold of you again. See? Not a big deal you were going to do
at least
that to begin with. That kid’s going to be something. I hid something very important in his soul, and I think the world hasn’t seen a kid like him in over two thousand years.

Well, good luck!

Hugs and Kisses,

The Dread Pirate Cameron, Pirate King

4

Janet looked at the card with far more intent. “Did he just imply that his child will be the Second Coming?”

“If anything it’ll be the Antichrist,” Warren muttered.

Makoto Tsuen

On the deck of
The Soulforge II
as it sailed through the Astral, Cameron held a tiny blue spark between his hands. “I can make you more than just a little spark,” he whispered to it. “All you have to do is agree to be my first mate for, oh, five to seven years. What say you to that?” The blue spark ignited.

About the Author

Chase Henderson grew up on a mountain near Charleston, WV. Lacking human contact he was forced to create his own world and talk about himself in the third person for entertainment. He went to Marshall University to study computers and writing, but mostly computers. Burdened with this knowledge he moved back to Charleston where he lives with his wife and peddles his dark arts of system administration. Sometimes when the moon in full you can hear him howling at his laptop battery in local cafes.

Facts about Chase Henderson

Chase is a member of the Allied Artists of West Virginia and you can see more of his work at
http://thehometowntourist.com