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atonalginger · 5 months

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Thinking Back and Looking Forward

Wordcount: 2,874 Sam Coe x oc (a starfarer but not a Dusty) Warnings: drug use mention (from Sam's past).

Sam sighed as he exited the GalBank. Of course Jacob saw this coming; that old bastard wouldn’t let Sam get anywhere without a fight. It meant grabbing Cora, which made Sam madder. He didn’t want to use his girl as bait but how else would be be able to keep Jacob distracted enough to search the house. At least it would be easier with Cora, unlike the shenanigans he used to get into with Jamie and Julien.

He slowly walked to the gazebo in Coe Plaza, giving the old statue a glare from under his brim. It’s where he told Cora to meet him when they were both finished. The gazebo was empty; unusual but understandable given the heist. Give it an hour and people would be back. He sat on his favorite bench, leaving room for near the corner for a person who no longer joined him. A sigh escaped his lips as he leaned back into the railing, he missed her dearly.

It was a stupid fight. Over trivial stuff upon reflection. But to twenty year old Sam, still riding an Aurora high from his last trip to Neon and half drunk, it was important. So much yelling. And the escalation when she demanded he leave until he sobered up. Twenty year old Sam was a damn fool. That was his heart and he threw it away, shouting needless insults to get the upper hand on a pointless mess he created.

Thoughts drifted to good times. The pair sitting on the bench, his arm around her hugging her close while Julien sat across from them, usually telling them about something he saw on his last patrol. The twins had moved the Akila City at eighteen to get away from their family homestead and their controlling parents. The trio were thick as thieves with their common bond of shit parents. Julien joined the Freestar Militia to build up credits and protect the FC systems. He was a top notch combat medic considered a prize by whichever captain got the Fox on their ship. Jamie landed a job working in the Rock up at the bar helping serve drinks and clean.

She never cared that he was a Coe, which he liked. More like she was wary of him in the beginning for being a Coe or so Fox had told him once. Everyone built the Solomon Coe up to be some mythic legend and she was worried he’d be some self important ass. But he wasn’t, he was just a guy suffocating under the weight of his family name. His mind continued to wander to the quiet moments they shared. When they’d sneak off to his dinky ship and fly into orbit for a few hours of privacy. The way her curves fit perfectly in his arms. She was such a welcome distraction from his boring job hauling cargo. And Jacob hated her. Damn that old man, he even ruined daydreaming.

“Dad! Dad!” Cora was barreling toward him with an arm full of new books and a smile to light up the plaza. He came back to reality and looked over as she skid to a stop on the uneven cobblestone, “I need to get on the ship, it’s important! I met the Professor Melody from that book series Barrett got me started on a few years back. You know the one that combined various survey research with old earth historical data?”

“I think I know the series,” Sam lied. She had so many book strewn across the ship he was sure one day one would knock him out during a jump, “Why does this mean you need back on the ship?”

“I told her I’d read her series, which she was surprised because its college level reading, and that I was a big fan of her work and she offered to sign any copies I had with me but all my books are on the ship! I can drop off my new books and grab the best two from her series and run back here. She agreed to meet here at the gazebo!”

He let out a quiet chuckle and slipped her the landing bay keycard, “lock the hatch behind you both in and out, understand?”

“Yes dad, safety first.”

“I’m serious,” he gently held her hand with the keycard between them, “Akila City is safer than more Freestar ports but it’s still rough.”

“I know.”

He let go and smiled at her, “when you get back we can talk about what’s next on the days agenda.”

“Are we going to see Gramps?” Cora’s eyes got big and a new smile bloomed.

“Looks like it.” He tried not to look disappointed. Part of him did love that she and his Dad got along but he didn’t trust the bastard to not manipulate her.

Cora bounced and then took off for the spaceport. He turned and watched her, the City guard hollering at her to be careful and watch where she went. Her father’s daughter indeed.

Sam pulled his notes slate out of his holster pocket and scrolled through the list of books and authors Cora talked about the most. Didn’t take long to find this Professor Melody. Notes included:

-FC native. Born in Akila City, raised deep in Ashta country on a livestock homestead. Gained a love for Earth history due to a gift of ancient books from her aunt. -Holds degrees from FC and UC universities. Gained UC citizenship through her work on her first published work on ancient animal husbandry practices and how to integrate them into modern practices. -a Ph.D in anthropology with a focus on ancient Earth histories. -Cora really likes this book on ancient music. I think she’s told me three times now about how people used to play wooden instruments that worked because they took dried cane and painstaking shaped it into something called a reed and this all sounds like a lot of work for something a computer could do. Suppose they didn’t have computers back then. -Cora wants to go to New Homestead because of something she read in that new book. Thanks Doc Melody, someday soon we’ll go freeze our cheeks off

He sighed at the last note. Forgotten in the sea of things to do and errand to run. He’d have to make time, see if she still wanted to go. He felt a presence near the archway of the gazebo. A familiar presence. He stowed the slate and slowly looked up to see Jamie standing surprised in the archway. Her hair was clipped short and her makeup was subdued but it was her. He’d never forget that face. He stood and took a step before he froze. Why would he have any right to approach her after everything he did and said.

“Sam,” she said softly, almost a question. She blinked away tears and a warm smile formed.

“Jamie,” he choked up for a moment, “I—I’m so sorry. For everything. You deserv—“

“I’m surprised you remembered,” she took a few steps forward, “I remember you being pretty out of it that night.”

“That's…an understatement I think. Also took a few years to piece together a clear memory.”

“You’re doing better?” She asked. She was standing toe to toe with him now, looking up with wet hazel eyes.

“Much better. Had a few more lows to hit before reaching bottom but I’ve been able to clean up my act. Even ran with the Rangers for a time before finally getting to do what I wanted.”

“You’re exploring?” She sounded so happy and it made a tear break from his eyes.

“Yup. Me and my little girl, Cora, explore the Starfield for Constellation.”

Her jaw dropped a moment and then a giggle, “Cora? The bright eyed girl with the bouncy brown hair?”

“That’s her,” he nodded, “must of heard her near Sinclairs? She’s running to grab some books for this professor she’s a fan of. She tears through books like nothing else but that series…I swear she rereads them every few months.”

“Oh?” Jamie looked amused, “she sounds likes like a sweet little bookworm.”

“Oh she is,” he chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck, “don’t know where she gets it from, neither her mom or me are big readers.”

“Is her mom around?” Jamie looked around, stepping back once.

“No, she’s not. She's married to the Rangers.”

They stood there listening to the usual commotion of Akila City. Laughter at the Hitching Post and guards complaining about the recent rains and puddles. Arguing over who had to clean tables in the Chunks.

“I missed you,” she said, shattering the silence, “I always regretted leaving Akila City the way I did. I knew you weren’t yourself and once you came down we could talk but I was so in my feelings I just ran. It wasn’t fair to you or Fox.”

“After the things I said? The way I acted. I knew you didn’t approve of all the—“

“That weasel of a boss Jacob set you up with was the one that introduced you to that crap. Kept Neon on your route. Sure, you did chose to take it but I know you felt pressured.”

“Maybe I was but that doesn’t excuse what I did. What I said.”

She stepped forward again and placed a hand on his chest, above the turquoise tooth hanging around his neck, “I forgave you a long time ago. It wasn’t instant but the more I replayed those memories the more I knew we could have worked through it and I gave up on you. I’m sorry.”

Sam’s cheeks were now stained with tears. She was sorry? For protecting herself? He placed his hand over hers, “You have nothing to apologize for. Your forgiveness means a lot, even if I don’t think I’ve earned it.”

She leaned in and hugged him, her arms wrapping around him under his leather jacket. He held her close, burying his nose into the nook of her neck. His hat fell to the ground as they squeezed each other tight. They were so lost in the embrace they didn’t hear the pounding footfalls hopping to a stop in the archway.

“Uh, dad?” Cora said. Sam stood tall, both their grips loosening, and saw Cora squatting down to pick up his hat.

“Thanks, gumdrop.” Sam said sheepishly.

Cora stood there, her books in a bag slung over her shoulder and his hat in her hands, with a growing look of shock.

“Everything okay? Cora?” Sam wasn’t sure what to make of this, she wasn’t usually like this. Sure, she saw him hugging Jamie but he’s hugged people before and she’s never gotten weird before. Was it the intensity of the hug? The seeming randomness?

“Professor Melody?” Cora finally managed to say before looking up at Sam with a furrowed glare, “Why didn’t you tell me you knew Dr. Melody?”

“I—“ he looked to Jamie, who had taken a few steps back and out of Cora’s line of fire and was now wearing an ornery grin. “Doctor Melody? I know you and Julien talked about changing your names but…”

“During my graduate studies my mentor introduced me to her daughter who was a talented cyber runner. Her daughter specialized in helping people escape bad families or abusive relationships by permanently altering their Colonies records. I was originally going to take on my mentor’s family name because they’d all but adopted me and it was her husband who came up with Melody. He worried my family might figure out my new name by looking into public uni records but Melody was original and unique. And everyone agreed it suited me. Jamie Melody does exactly roll off the tongue but people don’t usually address me like that anyway so it doesn’t matter.”

Sam smiled, “Clever. And it does suit you. Always had a song on your lips.”

“So you two do know each other!” Cora jabbed a finger at her dad.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen her, Cora,” Sam reached out and teasingly grabbed her finger. She scrunched her nose and held out his hat, which he promptly took and placed back on his head, “and as you just heard, I was not aware of the name change.”

“Alright, I suppose I can let it go,” Cora dramatically said before reaching into her bag, “So I brought my two favorite.”

“I can’t wait to see which ones you picked.” Jamie held out a hand to accept the books.

“It was hard to choose,” Cora handed them over along with a black fine point marker from Sam’s workstation.

“I’m proud of you for narrowing it down. Part of me wondered if you’d try hauling the whole set back,” Sam teased his little girl. As he spoke he watched Jamie look over the books awe.

“This is a first edition,” Jamie looked shocked as she studied one of the pair, “my publisher said they pulled them after we discovered a printing error.”

“Oh that was a gift from Gramps. He gave me that one and the corrected second edition along with a few comics and a book of Akila history. I love going through both editions looking for the differences. All I’ve found are a few diagrams printed sideways and like two missing pages of pictures.”

“Yeah the errors were minor but embarrassing for the publisher,” Jamie laughed. “Let me sit down and I can inscribe these.”

“Always knew you were destined for greatness,” Sam said as she sat down, “Always assumed I was holding you back.”

“You weren’t,” she said softly as she looked up at him, “if anything you helped me fly the coop. I don’t know if I’d ever left this rock without your help. Only wish I’d timed it better.”

He fought back more tears as he felt Cora studying his face. Jamie went to work writing messages in each book. She wrote with a very slow, deliberate hand, which amused him because he knew just how messy her handwriting could get.

“So what’s the plan?” Cora asked.

“The Plan? Sam asked.

“You said we needed to talk about plans for today with visiting Gramps. I figured it had to do with our Constellation business and we both know Gramps isn’t going to like that.”

“Yup,” Sam nodded. It was scary how smart she was.

“What sort of Constellation business would need you talking to…him?” Jamie hesitated, omitting what Sam knew was a more colorful reference to Jacob, “My understanding is Constellation studies star systems, running detailed surveys of planet and moon surfaces and finding scientifically significant discoveries.”

“We are. We’re looking into the story of the Empty Nest.” Cora smiled, “Dad said what we needed was in the bank vault but since we need to see Gramps that means it wasn’t anymore.”

“Is that so?” Jamie seemed to perk up. She leaned in towards both of them and handed back the books, “would this happened to have anything to do with gravitational anomalies?”

“How do you…” Sam started to say.

“Never mind that for now, may I come with for this visit with Ol’ Jacob?” She stood up and smoothed her pants, “in case tag team sweet grandchild frustrating son can’t crack the code?”

“You know gramps too?” Cora asked.

“I do,” Jamie smiled, “we aren’t on great terms but we have an understanding. Plus he owes me a favor. If he won’t listen to you two I can call it in.”

“Jacob Coe owes you a favor?” Sam was in disbelief.

“I found some antiques with Solomon Coe’s name engraved at a consignment shop a few years back. Seller could tell I was a knowledgeable buyer and confessed they figured the pieces were forgeries but even still they were worth a pretty credstick for their condition alone. I knew Jacob had legit equipment with engravings and that the museum was his pet project at the time so I reached out. Asked him to verify the validity of the engraving and if they were real I’d give them to him in exchange for a favor down the line. They were all real, worth FAR more than I paid, and he took the deal.”

“You did that for him?” Sam asked.

“I did it for the museum,” she motioned down the road, “and I did it because having someone like your dad on the hook for a favor is useful in my line of work. Sometimes you can’t grease the squeaky wheels alone.”

“Smart,” Cora nodded sagely, “Dad we should bring the Professor along.”

“Does he know you’re the author of these books?” Sam asked.

“He does,” Jamie nodded, “He’s known about my name change for a while. Once tipped me off to some family chatter one of his connections intercepted. Apparently he had people keeping ears to the ground for any search my parents attempted on me. He didn’t want them to find me anymore than I did.”

“What?” Sam felt a rush of shock and anger. Jacob never told him any of this.

“We can talk about all that later,” Jamie reached out and patted his chest, “for now let’s focus on finding an empty nest.”

#starfield fanfiction #Sam Coe #starfield Sam Coe #sam coe x spacefarer #because ican't take a day off anymore here's something I wrote back in like september or early october #This Bella's old friend

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