Wolf Boy, Chapter 8, Part II

Pan drove one of the depot’s buggies back to the central hub. He took the elevator to the alcove outside the changing rooms, shucked his suit, and ducked into the area's individual courtyard to take a swim. Due to the Siphons who now lived in the hub, quarters and general areas offered more indoor pools. They weren’t huge but they were enough to paddle around in. Maybe Panfilo was part dog.

He dried off and dressed and sauntered, barefoot, back to Father Malcom’s apartment.

Someone stood outside the door, a human a little taller than Panfilo, so about 1.8 meters. The figure stood hunched with his hands in his pockets, shaggy blond hair brushing naturally light-brown skin. He turned his head and gave Panfilo a nod. Kaiden Lee.

Kaiden and Pan knew each other. They arrived on the same ship. Back then, Kaiden was part of a religious group that had since disbanded after a massive scandal. Even after Pan was sent to live on the station, Kaiden had lingered to chat when he visited the station to work. There was a eight-year difference. But Mars was still a fairly small community, small enough that Kaiden and Pan knew each other and about each other.

Kaiden said, “I hear you’re going to Earth.”

“Yeah,” Pan said and entered the apartment, currently empty since Sandy was holding mass with Father Hadaka. He motioned Kaiden to follow him in.

“My parents went back three years ago.”

Kaiden

Pan nodded absently. A lot of Mars’ immigrants returned to Earth. Allec said they were searching for impossible utopias when they came to Mars. They got disappointed when those utopias didn’t materialize. Lider said they wanted to better themselves. Rhys pointed out that many of them left and returned.

Kaiden said, “My parents want me to visit.”

“So you’ll be on the ship.”

“I wasn’t going to go. But then I heard about you—”

Kaiden was pacing the front room while Pan sat on a stool in the kitchenette. Pan studied him as shrugged and waved his arms.

Pan and Kaiden weren’t friends, not really. And as far as he knew, Kaiden didn’t have  romantic interest in male Anthros. Actually, he wasn’t sure Kaiden had any interest in anybody.

Pan waited.

“I thought maybe you could use a bodyguard. It was wrong, what happened to you. That Anthros trying to kill you. I know you have plenty of protectors,” Kaiden added and shrugged self-consciously.  

“Sure,” Pan said. “But those protectors will have responsibilities on the ship other than me.”

Rhys and Lider were coming to continue the investigation, possibly to continuing interrogate Junad, who would be on the same ship, confined to a cabin, between holding mass and taking confession.

They would also spend shifts in various departments. Mars and station residents accepted duties during a voyage. Quin would work as quartermaster while Allec would manage the kitchen alongside Digory.

Pan would have duties too. He was sixteen, which was an adult in some city-states. The ship would expect him to scrub toilets or launder uniforms or help with clean-up in the galley. He and Kaiden might get assigned the same duties, and it might be useful and non-monotonous to have someone to talk to, someone without an agenda.

Except Kaiden obviously also had an agenda. Not assassination. Not romance. Pan was betting on something more fundamental, something tied into Kaiden’s reasons for staying on Mars, for visiting him on the station.

Political know-how 101: give people time to reveal themselves.

He said, “Sounds good. I could use a bodyguard.”