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Rafe’s eyes went to Jade, but he could see from her expression that she had already cracked it.
“Strong enough to crush a man’s skull?” she asked.
“Come off-moon with me,” Bud said to Tally, ignoring the others. His voice was low and intense, as if this were the most important thing in the world.
But Tally had heard what Jade said, and his face was a study in horror.
“Your arm,” Tally realized out loud. “When I was little, my mom always told me that a one-armed man was chasing us. That’s why we moved around so much. She told me you would never stop looking for us.”
“She didn’t tell you everything,” Bud said. “She didn’t tell you that I’m your father.”
There was a moment of terrible silence.
“No,” Tally whispered.
“I met her on the pleasure ships,” Bud said fondly. “She was a sweet young thing, and she wanted me so badly. It was clear she was in love with me. I stayed with her until I literally ran out of credits. I had a plan for us. I had secretly messed with her birth control, knowing they would kick her off if she was with child. And then we could finally be together. But she had me so out of my mind for her that the credits just ran through my hands like water, and they kicked me off first.”
Rafe’s heart broke for Tally, who looked like he had seen a ghost. And he understood now why the old man had looked more familiar. The resemblance to Tally was undeniable.
“I came looking for you two,” Bud said. “I don’t know why she ran. All I ever wanted was to be with her and with you. She was mine. I would have ensured no other man ever got so much as a whiff of her. I would have worshipped her, and indulged her every wish, and she would never have had to see the light of the cruel world outside again. I would have taken care of everything.”
The man was clearly a psychopath, and a dangerous one. Rafe prayed that the boy could see this and that he wouldn’t do anything stupid.
“Why did you kill the judge?” Jade asked quietly.
“That man, Gaxx, he helped her to run away from me,” Bud snarled. “But he only wanted to take her for himself. I finally got word of where he had stolen her off to. I was coming here to take back what was mine.”
A shiver went down Rafe’s spine and he saw Jade swallow hard.
“I chased him as far as the train,” Bud said. “I went to the cabin to demand to know what he had done with her. But he said she was dead.”
Bud looked around as if he would get sympathy from the others at the table.
“I thought he was lying,” he said, as if it were obvious. “I just wanted to get some information out of him. I forgot how strong this thing is.”
He lifted the cyborg arm and shrugged, as if it were to blame for his evil deeds.
“You killed my father,” Tally said quietly, sliding his sword from its scabbard.
Jade moved as if to stop him.
But Rafe placed a hand on her forearm.
“He needs to do this himself,” he told her quietly.
Tally advanced on the older man, who moved quickly to keep a table between himself and the blade, easily anticipating Tally’s feeble attempts to close the distance. He’d obviously been playing up the wounded elder bit, because he seemed surprisingly spry all of a sudden. And he definitely had some training. Rafe wondered if the missing arm was some kind of war wound. Tally might be in over his head here.
Tally was like a live wire, buzzing with naked emotion and attacking with blind fury. Bud dodged and weaved, using the layout of the room to his advantage. Rafe guessed this wasn’t the first barroom he’d brawled in.
Tally was getting more frustrated with each missed blow. His technique was sloppy, and getting worse. At this rate, he’d be lucky to get out of this fight without stabbing himself.
“Face me, coward,” Tally demanded and came close to finally landing a thrust.
He may have been outclassed, but the older man was clearly starting to tire.
“Let’s not get carried away,” Bud wheezed. “Let me buy you a drink, and we can talk this over.”
Tally answered with another quick movement, slicing the man’s good arm. He looked proud of his work, and almost as surprised as Rafe was. Then his eyes went wide as the man screamed and brought his cyborg arm down on the table, smashing it to splinters.
