Goodbyes and Journeys
Disclaimer: Same as before.
Godfrey woke slowly, feeling the pounding in his head. Bloody Hell. Godfrey thought, as it felt like somebody had just driven a railroad spike into his skull. He climbed out of the bed in the room aboard the Morrowind. He remembered stumbling through steel corridors, and into a small suite of rooms which he presumed were his quarters. He hadn't had nearly as much as he'd had that night he'd attempted to match drinks with Poole, so the hangover wasn't that bad. All the items he'd packed since he had received his new assignment were at the foot of his bed.
He splashed his face with water in the bathroom and threw on his uniform before walking out into the hall. "I was wondering when you'd wake up." Prue remarked right when he opened the door.
"You were right." Godfrey replied, "Whiskey isn't my poison."
"Where are you going?" Prue asked.
"Just for a last look around. My things are already onboard and I really haven't anything else to do." Godfrey replied, "I know you're wondering why I'd do something like this. After all I seem to be Mayapore's persona non grata..."
"The thought had crossed my mind." Prue replied.
"But I spent almost my entire life here." Godfrey replied, "And from what Kolopak was going on about, it may be a long time before I return. God forbid I may never return. I don't expect you to understand..."
"Godfrey, I know what you're feeling more than you realize." Prue replied, "I never really took my last look around. I'll tell Kolopak you'll be a while."
"Thank you Prue." Godfrey replied.
"I'll see you later." Prue replied. She headed back to her room, she was going to write a letter.
Godfrey roamed the streets of the town square of Mayapore, the midmorning sun blazing down on him as he walked his old beat for the last time. As he began his walk he was intercepted by Sergeant Hiller.
"I heard you'll be leaving us soon sir." Hiller began.
"That's correct." Godfrey replied.
"Permission to speak freely?" Hiller said.
"Granted." Godfrey replied.
"Don't think that everyone in the town is ungrateful for all that you've done and that everyone agrees with Merrick." Hiller replied.
"It's sort of hard not to, considering recent events." Godfrey replied.
"You did the right thing, sir." Hiller replied, "I'd best be back on duty. I want to wish Godspeed and a safe journey."
"Thank you sergeant." Godfrey replied.
He passed by the hospital where Dr. Poole flagged him down, "Mr. Godfrey..."
"Yes Doctor." Godfrey replied.
"I wanted to tell you that I just released Mr. Kumar from custody. His arraignment hearing is today." Poole replied.
"Who's representing him?" Godfrey asked.
"Mr. York." Poole replied.
"Mr. York?" Godfrey asked, his eyebrows knitting together, "I thought he..."
"Mrs. York can be a bit shrewish at times." Poole replied, "However, Mr. York's interest lies in justice in this case. He does believe Mr. Kumar's insistence of innocence if not his rather unorthodox relationship with Miss Manners."
"Daphne?" Godfrey asked, "How is she?"
"She's out of town, she went over to Pankot, to see her aunt. She decided life in the town was a bit too hostile for her right now, while she's carrying the baby." Poole replied, "She left with a fakir though, earlier this morning. I saw them off to the train myself."
"One more thing, Doctor." Godfrey said, taking a bottle of whiskey from his satchel about two thirds full, "I think you'd appreciate this more than I."
Poole said, "That should be a good lot. Listen, should you return to Mayapore shortly, would you object to a pint or two?"
"Not at all, doctor." Godfrey replied.
"I'll hold you to that. We'll have a grand old time, and when it's over we'll sing at the moon until we pass out in the gutter." Poole replied.
"A bit excessive, don't you think?" Godfrey asked.
"A doctor doesn't always need to think. Sometimes he needs a drink." Poole replied, "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some reports to write and some patients to see before I go for a quick nip."
"Some things never changed." Godfrey mused aloud to himself before he headed to a bungalow on a hillside, a bungalow he had lived in almost all his life.
Prue finished writing on the piece of paper and read over. Whoa, that was a hell of a lot to explain to grieving sisters, assuming that Nigel delivered the thing to begin with. She had a hard time figuring out where to begin, appearing on Mayapore, finding out about the Heartless, being in the middle of a war she had up to then known nothing about. She had balled up half a dozen drafts of the letter before finally just writing everything that had happened from beginning to end. She put the paper in the envelope and sealed it, writing the words: "For Piper and Phoebe." onto it.
"Nigel." Prue said.
The familiar Whitelighter orbed into the room. "Yes?" he asked.
"Can I ask you a favor?" Prue asked.
"I get the feeling I'm to be sorely regretting this." Nigel replied, "But go ahead."
"Could you deliver this to my sisters?" Prue asked.
"Prudence Halliwell." Nigel began, "You're asking me to violate God knows how many rules with this request. I understand that you want to comfort and reassure your sisters but..."
"Knowledge is power, I know." Prue replied, "And they're not ready for this information. For God's sake they should know what it is they could be dealing with. At least a warning. For the greater good..."
Nigel mulled this. Things were going to get very difficult for the Halliwell sisters, and not just Prue when and not if the Heartless invaded their world. Knowledge would be helpful for the inevitable assault, but he'd have to make certain that they didn't acquire it too swiftly lest they go off on some half-cocked notion of finding Prue again before she was due to return.
"I'll consider it." Nigel replied, taking the letter and orbing away.
In the Whitelighter Area, Nigel nodded curtly as he walked by Natalie, thanking God his previous life as an English gentleman had taught him poise, and years of card games had taught him how to bluff. The woman was a human lie detector.
"Natalie." Nigel said.
"Nigel." The other Whitelighter said, curtly, "Did you hear about the latest staff meeting?"
"Yes, I'm aware of it." Nigel replied.
"Good, will you be there this time?" Natalie asked.
"Yes." Nigel replied.
"I'll hold you to that. You're record for missing staff meetings is greater than Leo's." Natalie replied.
"Bollocks." Nigel replied, "I had good reasons for missing every last one of them."
Namely I hate hearing quotes from the rule book used as ways to suppress otherwise sensible ideas. Nigel thought.
"Like mentor like student." Natalie said, "Your protégé has learned his lessons well."
"I would like to think so." Nigel replied.
"Too well, in fact." Natalie replied, "See you at the meeting."
"Count on it." Nigel said, and walked off.
Just then Leo orbed in. "Ah, the man I've been looking for." Nigel began, "I might require a small favor of you."
"Uh-oh." Leo said to his former mentor.
"Will the Elders be upset?" Leo asked.
"When are they not?" Nigel countered.
"Prue must really be having a hard time having you as a Whitelighter." Leo said, "You've always had this thing about your charges figuring this out for themselves..."
"I really haven't any desire to repeat past mistakes." Nigel replied, emphasizing the last word.
"You couldn't have known Ansem had grown so powerful." Leo said, "Again, I'm sorry about Anora. I'd feel the same way if that happened to Piper..."
"This has nothing to do with it." Nigel replied frostily.
Leo knew to back off, trying to get underneath that side of Nigel's personality would be like trying to dig a hole in an Alaska glacier with a toothpick.
"What is this mystery favor you want, Nigel?" Leo asked.
Nigel produced Prue's letter from his pocket. "Please deliver this..."
"The Elders aren't going to be happy with either of us, you know." Leo began.
"As I said, my old friend, it wouldn't be the first time." Nigel replied.
"That's because you put me up to putting a thumb tack on Natalie's chair at the last staff meeting, the one with Elder Gideon presiding. I'd expect more from a former English gentleman." Leo replied before he orbed out, not looking forward to the firestorm that would result when Phoebe and Piper discovered Prue was still alive but out of reach for the time being.
Godfrey walked through the parlor of the bungalow, playing a few notes on the piano, regretting he hadn't taken to learning to play it.
"For one last look around, son." came a voice.
Godfrey turned and saw an older man with black hair similar to his own, but graying at the temples and sideburns.
"Yes dad. It could be a while before I'm back, and I wanted to take a last look around Mayapore." Godfrey replied.
"Alan," a Welsh woman in a nurse's uniform said, "We want to wish you the best of luck."
"I'm going to miss this place, though I've become the persona non grata here." Godfrey replied.
"Well," Mrs. Godfrey said, "You'll always have a home here."
"Here, you're always welcome. You're our son and we love you." Mr. Godfrey said.
"I know it's going to be a long journey, but I just want you to write us..." Mrs. Godfrey.
Godfrey's eyes misted over, "Of course I'll write, mum."
"It seems like you should get going, Alan, you have a ship to catch." Mr. Godfrey added. The son embraced his parents before he walked out the door.
Godfrey took in everything as he walked down Mayapore's main street for the last time. The smells of the marketplace, the sights of its citizens, the constabulary, and the engineers repairing the town going about their business. He realized this could well be the last morning ever in Mayapore, and he savored everything he could, burning everything into his memory.
He nodded and smiled at those who still bothered to greet him. Not since he'd left to go to university at seventeen had he felt this appreciation of every little detail of Mayapore. He watched the shimmer of heat off of the rooftops, he watched two young children chasing each other through the street, the harried mother of the two boys in tow. He smiled to himself. He walked across the bridge until he reached the Indian quarter, taking in its exotic aromas, and its myriad of sights.
He watched as sacred cows milled around the Hindu quarter, and listened as the Muslims were called to prayer by an ancient loudspeaker. He walked out of the town and until he reached the Morrowind.
"Where have you been?" a short tomboyish woman, about nineteen or twenty of Hispanic descent asked. She wore overalls, a sleeveless t-shirt and a mechanic's toolbelt.
"Saying my goodbyes." Godfrey remarked brusquely.
"It's not like you're going away forever, amigo." the woman said, wiping sweat from her brow and stuffing an oily rag into a pocket.
"I could well be." Godfrey replied.
"You must be that new hermano that Kolopak said was being assigned to us by the AIB." the woman replied, and sticking out a hand, "Audrey Ramirez. I'm the Chief Mechanic on this crate."
"Alan Godfrey. I'm the new security and intelligence bloke."
"Welcome aboard, Kolopak's called a meeting before we take off. You're just in time." Audrey replied.
Godfrey walked onboard the ship for the second time, taking one last breath of his world's air before Audrey climbed in and closed the airlock.
Prue Halliwell saw one very diverse group made up the crew of the Morrowind. All of them save the Chief Mechanic and the new Intelligence Officer were not in the room. Other than Kolopak, Milo, and Godfrey she didn't know a single one of them.
Sitting to her left on the oval shaped conference table was a woman in her sixties, wearing an olive drab army uniform and a 'been there done that' expression on her face. To her right was a black man with a bald head in his late thirties or early forties.
The black man spoke first, "You must be the witch that Kolopak was going on about. I'm Dr. Joshua Strongbear Sweet. My friends call me Doc. I'm the medical officer."
"Prue Halliwell." Prue replied.
The old woman spoke next, "Wilhelmina Bertha Packard, my friends call me Bertha."
Godfrey and a short Hispanic woman walked in just then.
"Nice of you to join us, Audrey." Doc quipped.
"I just had some last minute repairs to make." Audrey quipped, "Somebody's explosive experiments caused a few of them to be neccessary."
"What?" an Italian man with a mustache said from across the table.
"Do you see any other Italians who love blowing things up?" Audrey replied.
"There were those gentlemen from Milan..."
"I meant around here, Vinny." Audrey remarked.
"Eh heh heh..." Vinny said as Audrey fixed him with a stare that could have frozen Belthazor.
The short, stocky and mustachioed Frenchman in a grungy trenchcoat and a leather pilot's helmet chuckled.
"And you're not innocent yourself either." Audrey turned towards the Frenchmen, "Mole, you were the one who dug the holes that Vinny put those new demolition charges into, the ones that launched geysers of dirt into the ventilation system..."
"Will you guys knock it off!" Milo shouted as the argument started to heat up. Kolopak walked in just then and noticed that his crew was all in the conference room.
"What's going on?" Kolopak asked.
"A minor disagreement." Audrey said, "Somebody's tests caused a few minor repairs to be added, delaying us..."
"Are they repaired?" Kolopak asked calmly.
"Yes." Audrey replied.
"Good." Kolopak said, "The purpose of this meeting was to introduce two new members of this crew, who'll be with us for the foreseeable future."
Kolopak indicated Prue, "This is Prue Halliwell, she is the witch that Merlin spoke of in Traverse Town. She will be helping our search for Ansem's report."
Kolopak then indicated Godfrey, "This is Lieutenant Alan Godfrey, he's our new liaison with the Allied Intelligence Bureau."
"My crew members." Kolopak said, "This is Vincenzo "Vinny" Santorini. He's an explosives and demolition expert."
"Not to mention he makes the best spaghetti and meatballs anyone has ever tasted." Mole remarked.
"Hey!" an old man, matching the stereotypical grizzled old cook from many a Western film, missing quite a few teeth, in his seventies shouted, "I cook better than anyone..."
"...West of the Mississippi, yes." Audrey replied, rolling her eyes, indicating she'd heard the boast in question a million times.
"This is..." Kolopak began,
"...I'll do mah own introduction..." the man began, "Ah'm Jebidiah Allardyce Farnswoth...but e'eryone calls me Cookie."
"As that implies, he's our cook." Kolopak said.
"Or our chief cause of food poisoning. With his meals it's amazing that we're still alive." Audrey quipped.
I think that I'll be eating quite a few salads or anything else other than his cooking on this trip. Prue thought.
"This is Audrey Rocio Ramirez, our chief mechanic." Kolopak continued, gesturing to the short, dark haired Hispanic woman.
"The French say 'Good things come in small packages.'." Mole said.
"I believe it was a British poet that said that." Godfrey countered.
"Ridiculous. The French..." Mole replied.
"...Are great at hosting invasions." Vinny quipped.
"Hey!" Mole bristled.
"Gaetan "Mole" Moliere, he's our resident geological expert, when it comes to tunneling, mining or anything of that sort...he's the best." Kolopak remarked.
"He also could use a shower." said Bertha.
"Wihelmina Bertha Packard, or Bertha to her friends, is our communications expert." Kolopak continued.
"If you give her wires, speakers, and soda cans she could make a handy little radio. " Milo replied.
"And I'm glad I married him." a young, pregnant, woman with silver hair replied.
"Ah, this is Kidagakash Nedakh, or Kida for short, she's Milo's wife." Kolopak began, "The former princess of Atlantis before their world was destroyed."
"Alright, first watch, get to your stations." Kolopak ordered, "Godfrey, you're on watch."
Shortly after the meeting broke up, the Morrowind flew off towards Traverse Town. As it did, Prue looked out at the stars, wondering if her letter from Nigel would be delivered. One thing for certain that Prue realized, was that her journey had just begun...
End (The next story adventure of the Morrowind will be Once Upon a Time in Traverse Town in the Disney section. Don't worry, the group will return to Mayapore again. Stay tuned for that first chapter, A Letter From Prue...)