Tales from the Stream Ch. 20

"This I've got to hear."

Mother Bertilda pressed her lips together in a tight line. "Is that a bit of sarcasm I detect?"

Jade's cheeks flushed pink. She slipped further into the water and lowered her gaze.

"I met her in the city one day, quite by accident. I was a young novice at the time. Though like our class of novices on the Hildegard von Bingen, a calling to the sisterhood was not exactly my first choice. There were other, extenuating circumstances at work.

"I imagine back then I was a bit like the former owner of your ship," said Bertilda. "Privileged. Aloof. Does that about sum it up?"

"I only met her that one time while Amaliya was slipping a mickey in her coffee. But I'd say that's a fair assessment." Jade turned to study Mother Bertilda's face. "Though somehow, I can't really picture you in the same class."

"I was a spoiled brat, Captain. I didn't choose the calling, it chose me. I wound up in a covenant, because after my third drug offense I was looking at actual jail time, regardless of my position on the socioeconomic ladder. My parents pulled some strings and I got six months of rehab and a follow-up year of charitable service with the sisterhood to keep an eye on me."

Jade sat up straight. "Wow. I have to say, did not see that one coming."

"Talitha Kum. Are you familiar with their work?"

Jade shook her head.

"Pretty hardcore as nuns go. As anybody goes, really. Anti-trafficking efforts in some pretty unsavory places. Planets not on the tourist circuit and definitely not any five-star mentions in your Michelin Guide. A very fitting community service sentence for a spoiled rich girl. Got to see how the other half lives, as they say."

Jade fixed her gaze on Mother Bertilda and waited.

"I was just a young novice. And not very enthusiastic about it. I'd been trying to adjust to this new life, albeit still a temporary one in my mind, when God decide our paths should cross.

"Tiarni, though that wasn't her name until some time later. Tiarni quite literally fell into my arms. Before collapsing unconscious at my feet.

"She's what the locals euphemistically refer to as a donor. A healthy person who walks into a clinic and walks out an hour later with most of their organs missing."

"Holy sh—" Jade stared. "You mean like illegal harvesting?"

"Mmm," said Bertilda. "But only maybe half of it was illegal. That's what Talitha Kum was fighting against. The other half... they were voluntary. Not very ethical, but technically not illegal. And that's enough to keep these clinics from being shuttered in places where oversight and enforcement are lax."

"How could...? Why would anybody do that?"

"Desperation, Captain Jade. I had never known such conditions existed until my time with the sisterhood."

"But, it's a death sentence."

"It is. But the patient walks out alive, so legally there's no liability. If they drop dead three meters from the clinic's doorstep, well, that's a problem for the city emergency services, not the people who removed their organs."

"That's fucking sick. Pardon my language, but it is."

"And now you know what Talitha Kum was fighting against." Mother Bertilda stopped and rubbed under her eye. "But Tiarni, she was one of the voluntary donors."

"Why?"

"I don't know. Sometimes a parent will sell a kidney or part of their liver to give a better life to their children. Sometimes the youngest child in a large family will feel pressure to do the same. I suspect in Tiarni's case it was the latter."

"But, you don't know?"

"I never asked. She gave up her kidneys, her liver, and her eyes that day. Telling me why she did it wouldn't change anything."

"What about cybernetics?"

"We tried. The sisters run a state of the art medical facility. Tiarni's body rejected them. It's rare, but it happens."

Jade shook her head. "I meant why harvest organs in these clinics when cybernetics exist? Captain Joan has a perfectly good replacement eye. Why can't people...?"

Mother Bertilda sighed. "Vanity? A sense of privilege? I don't know. What motivates a person to do anything that hurts someone else?"

"That is so fucked up." Jade frowned. "Pardon my language.

"In this case, I would tend to agree with your assessment and your choice of expletive. You can understand, then, the effect it had on me. In my sheltered existence up to then, I had no idea such a transaction was even possible. But God put Tiarni in my path, forcing me to open my eyes."

"God?" said Jade. "You think it was God's work, letting that poor girl sell off her organs so you could find yourself? You'll have to pardon my language again, because what kind of god would pull that kind of shit?"

Mother Bertilda pushed off from the opposite side of the pool and came to sit by Jade. "I thought the same thing at the time. It took me a long while, but I eventually came to the conclusion that God does not micromange."

"What?" Jade scrunched up her face. "God does not micromange? What's that got to do with anything?"

"You are the captain of your ship, are you not?"

"Yes, but—"

"Do you forego sleep and take every watch?"

"That's bullshit," said Jade, "God doesn't sleep. What kind of crap argument is that?"

Bertilda turned to Jade, facing her. "When someone else flies the ship, do you put your hands on top of theirs or do you trust them to work the controls and make the right decisions?"

"Umm," said Jade, blowing out a long breath.

"God is the Captain," said Bertilda. "We are her crew. Some of us are lucky enough to be called as duty officers to help guide the crew, but the crew are not conscripts. We all have free will. God does not micromanage."

"I still don't see how God could let Tiarni suffer like that."

"If you asked Sister Tiarni, she would not tell you stories of suffering. She would tell you of the joys she found living among her sisters."

"I still think it's pretty messed up."

"Tiarni's suffering was not passed down by God, Captain Jade, it was meted out by the hands of humanity. By the sins of pride and vanity."

"And it's still disgusting that God would let it happen," said Jade.

"Is it?" said Bertilda. "God led me to Tiarni or Tiarni to me. That was enough to rectify the situation."

Jade turned and once again set her gaze on the scars crisscrossing Mother Bertilda's abdomen.

"One of my kidneys and half of my liver. I offered an eye, but she wouldn't take it.

"Let me guess," said Jade. "She said her eyes had never been truly open anyway."

"No, but that's good. If you ever get tired of being a ship's captain, you could try your hand at writing religious parables... or maybe pulp novels." Bertilda reached around and rubbed at the back of her neck. "Tiarni said I had given her enough and that her blindness served as a reminder of her debt to me."

"I... I don't... wow." Jade sat with her mouth agape. "I don't know what to say."

"Miracles are not always about parting seas, Captain Jade. Sometimes they are two people stumbling around in the dark until they bump into each other and find their path together."

"You loved her?" asked Jade.

"Not at first." Bertilda rubbed her neck again. "No. Tiarni was my responsibility. But I felt put upon, just like my friend Sisyphus here when he was asked to construct this pool. God had asked me to do something and I wasn't ready for it. And all she ever did was cry. I hated it."

"But yet, you gave her a kidney, and part of your liver."

"I did." Bertilda rubbed her neck again. "I suppose it started with me feeling sorry for her, but later growing to understand her. What she did. What her reasons might be.

"I spooned her broth as she recovered from surgery, even as I recovered myself. I shared her bed to comfort her when she had nightmares. Those were the duties the sisters assigned me. Did I mention she cried a lot?

"But over time, though she was able to feed herself and the terrible dreams subsided, she would still ask me to stay. Just in case the nightmares came back, she said. And I would crawl in beside her and wrap myself around her. Just in case.

"After a while, she no longer had to ask." Bertilda pulled a hand from the water and rubbed once under each eye, before going back to rubbing her neck. "I loved her, Captain Jade. I loved her very much."

Jade reached out and patted the surface of the water in front of her. "Why don't you scoot around in front of me. I've been told I give a pretty good massage. Maybe we can get some of those kinks out of your neck."

"Thank you captain, I'd like that."

Captain Jade cracked her knuckles and wiggled her fingers as Mother Bertilda slid around to sit in front of her.

In Mia's meadow

Captain Joan, Emily, Jamie, and cluster of novices were gathered around Mia, singing songs. A few meters away, Amaliya and Aidoru stood among another group, engaging in synchronized dance moves directed by Aidoru.

Jade and Bertilda, both naked and dripping, walked hand in hand toward the Mia and the group that had gathered around her.

Amaliya ran over and tapped Emily on the shoulder. "Emily? Em, honey, where's your tablet? I want a picture of this." They both stared at Jade and Bertilda.

Jade blushed and tightened her grip on Mother Bertilda's hand. "What?" she said.

"Um," said Amaliya, "What happened to... you know..."

"That woman scares the shit out of me?" Emily smirked as she said it.

"I... I never..."

"It's okay," said Mother Bertilda. "Just don't let the others know I've gone soft."

"Promise," said Jade.

Amaliya walked over to Jade and planted a kiss on her cheek. "Do I have competition?" she asked.

"Strictly platonic," said Mother Bertilda.

"Do you know any more songs?" asked Mia. "I don't want to be a bother, but I do so enjoy hearing your lovely voices."

Amaliya held her index finger in the air. "Give me just a minute." She jogged back over to where Aidoru was directing the other Novices. Aidoru paused, listened, and then nodded.

Amaliya clapped her hands together and returned with the whole group in tow. "We have a surprise."

"A Depeche Mode song," said Aidoru.

"Amaliya shared the words.

"We've been practicing."

"It's called, Somebody," said Amaliya. "It's one of my favorites. I think you'll like it."

The group of novices opened their mouths and began to sing. When they reached the end of the second stanza, Mother Bertilda reached up to wipe under her eye before leaning her head against Captain Jade's shoulder. Jade squeezed her hand and closed the scant distance between them.

In the meadow, some time later

"What's this?" said Jade, looking at the procession of sisters and novices streaming from the airlock, each carrying either a sack of grain, a bowl of seeds, or a potted plant.

"Gifts for your ship and your crew," said Mother Bertilda. "God has provided for us and now we wish to share our bounty with you."

"Thank you," said Captain Jade. "It's very generous. But I'm wondering..." Jade fidgeted, scratching at the back of her neck and chewing her lip.

"Captain?" said Amaliya.

"Well, I was wondering if... with everyone so happy here on the station... of course, we'd have to ask Mia first. And put it to a vote..."

"Put what to a vote?" asked Amaliya.

Reg skittered over to Jade and laid a pincer against her ankle until she stooped to pick him up.

"I was thinking... well..."

"Oh just spit it out, hun."

"Maybe we could sow the seeds here. And the plants. And find a way to turn that wheat into bread. Is anyone interested in staying a little bit longer? Just a bit? I mean if it's alright with everyone."

Reg held out a pincer. He tapped and scratched at Jade's palm.

"I'd say that's a yes from Mia," said Mother Bertilda, looking on.

Jade pursed her lips. She looked up at the faces of her crew. Amaiya stood with her hand raised and her thumb pointing up. Jade shifted her gaze to Emily, Lúcia, and Aidoru. Each held her hand high, thumb up.

Jade's mouth widened into a grin. She held her arms open and stepped forward to embrace her crew.

Mother Bertilda stepped up and laid a hand on Jade's shoulder. "You're a good captain," she said.

"I hope you're staying too," said Jade. "If not, we should at least exchange email addresses or something. In case you ever want to talk."

"I'd like that," said Bertilda.

"I think we have a lot in common," said Jade.

Afterword

Go to your favorite streaming service and cue up Somebody, by Depeche Mode. It's on their 1984 album Some Great Reward. And when you're done listening, go out into the world and be a good captain. You never know whose life will cross your path and be touched by your deeds.

WP