The Finisher (Vega Jane #1)

by David Baldacci

“WO-WO-WOTCHA, VE-VE-VEGA JANE?” The voice coming from below belonged to my friend. His name was Daniel Delphia, but to me he was simply Delph. He always called me Vega Jane, as though both names were my given one. Everyone else simply called me Vega, when they bothered to call me anything at all.

My boy Delph!

His mind came and went like rain bursts. It had done so ever since he was six sessions old. No one knew what had happened to him, or if they did, they never shared it with me. I believed that Delph remembered it. And it had done something to his head. It obviously wasn’t an Event, because there would be nothing left of him. But it might be a near peer.

An event is when a Wug mysteriously vanishes into thin air with nothing remaining, they relate it to a death but it’s not really a death and it seems Delph maybe witnessed one as a child and it caused him irreversible trauma that keeps him from talking about it

The most bitterly awful place of all is one that Wugmorts don’t know is as wrong as wrong can possibly be.

Truth

He said, Every time you glimpse one making its blazingly haphazard way across the sky, a change is coming for some Wugmort.

Shooting star

“Three slivers early is still early,” I said and kept walking. Domitar said, “There are many worse off than your lot, Vega. Don’t forget that. You have it fine here. But that can change. Oh, yes it can.”

Is that a threat old drunk?

Some of my work was dangerous, which was why I put on as much protection as I could. Many who worked here did so with missing fingers, eyes, teeth and even limbs. I would rather not join their lot

I feel like your job may need more safety protocols..

I heard that, one time, long before I came to work at Stacks, some gonk tried to make it past Ladon-Tosh and up the stairs. It was said that Ladon-Tosh stabbed him with the knife, shot him with the morta, cut off his head with the sword and then threw the remains in one of the furnaces that blazed at Stacks all light and night. I’m not sure I believed that, but I wasn’t that sure.

Well that’s… nice

It’s not just my name bolted to this place. It’s me.

Yup being a slave to your job, gotta love it! Gotta love it….

My head filled with more dread than puzzlement, I turned to the one thing I knew how to do: finish pretty things that would be purchased by Wugs who could afford them. I was not among that number.

Vega is a Finisher who basically polishes equipment, paints items, sanding, basically the “finishing touches” on items. Har har

I carefully dipped my hand in the bowl and took out the parchment. I hid it in a work cloth and put the cloth on the workstation and opened it, unfolding the piece of parchment as well. The handwriting was small and precise, the words clear. I will not be back at Stacks, Vega. Go to your tree this night. What you will find there may set you free from Wormwood, if you so desire. QH.

We could just.. not do any of that..?

I suppose you don’t think too highly of yourself, and I would have to agree with ya there, female.” “If you think Delph is such a waste, why not challenge him in the next Duelum?” His face reddened. “I’m too old for the Duelum. But in my prime, female —” “And how many Duelums did you win in your prime, male?” He grimaced. “You best learn, Vega,” he growled. “Go along to get along.” “Speaking of going, where are you off to, Roman?” He looked like I had slapped him. “You’re asking me such a question?” “We’re having such a nice conversation, I wanted to keep it going.” “D’ya want to be written up at Council, Vega?” “Absolutely. I hear that with three or more infractions the offending Wug is eligible for some sort of prize.” “I have no slivers for idle dithering with the poor likes-a you.”

Ahh and there’s the misogyny :)

The door opened and the youngs started to trickle out.

Young’s are children

John Jane was short and skinny and looked far younger than his age. His hair was dark and long, nearly as long as mine. He would not allow me or anyone else to cut it. He was not strong, but he would fight you if you tried to cut his hair.

Johnny boy

We had a ritual, John and I. Every other light after Learning, we went to see our parents at the Care, where Wugs who were unwell and for whom the Mendens at hospital could do nothing more were sent.

Nothing for them anymore??? What the hell happened

“Y’know, for such a great big Wug, you’re more like a female, ain’t you, Delph? Scared of your own shadow.” He made a lunge at Delph, and Delph jumped back. Non roared with laughter and tossed me the key to my parents’ room. “G’on in, then. Don’t think the likes of him can do much harm.” I said, “If I remember correctly, Delph beat you in the last Duelum, Non. How long were you unconscious again?” Non’s smile disappeared, and as we passed by, he gave Delph a hard shove in the back that nearly sent him sprawling.

Get dunked on motherfucker

There were two cots in the room with a small wooden table between them. There were no lanterns or torches that I could see. The only illumination seemed to come from the ceiling. I don’t know how this was managed. Another mystery. There were no windows. When you’re in the Care, apparently sunlight is not required. There were also no chairs for us to sit in. Perhaps they did not like to encourage long visits.

At least make it less depressing, damn

His name was Thansius. In many respects he was Council. By comparison, Jurik Krone was but a gnat on a slep’s hindquarters. I had only seen Thansius at a distance. He did not walk the cobblestones. He did not labor at Stacks or at the Mill or as a Tiller. If Wormwood had a leader, it was he.

Tall, dark, and- oh wait he’s council leader… ehh.. Politics *shudders*

He asked, “No mention of anything from him? No indication that he might go off … ?” I chose my words carefully. “Where is there to go off to?” “No message left behind for you?” he asked, ignoring my query. I could see danger in Thansius’s features, the curl of his hand, so close to a fist, the bunched muscles under the blood robe. I furrowed my brow and willed my brain to do the best job of answering without really saying anything of importance. Transparency is fine, if you happen to be a window.

Yes play those mind games

“They say he has gone off,” Loon continued, puffing on his pipe so hard the smoke billowed out, nearly hiding him from our view. It was as if he had suddenly combusted, but I was just not that lucky. “Where would he go off to?” I asked innocently, taking the same tack I had with Thansius though my heart wasn’t really in it. Loon was not nearly the challenge mentally that Thansius presented. He was simply a git.

Pfft

I eyed the other two Loon females, still youngs, who labored in the kitchen. They were also small and skinny, their faces smoky from the kitchen coal fire, just like their mother’s. They didn’t go to Learning. This was because they were females and also because Cacus Loon did not believe in education for the most part.

Sounds like Cacus Loon is living up to his reputation of being a git. Keeping his “females” from doing anything that could better themselves so he has control over them

I had heard Loon once say that he had never gone to Learning and look how he had turned out. If that was not reason enough to read religiously every book you could possibly get your hands on, I didn’t know what would be.

Ewww

The wounded garm, sensing blood and meat, was coming so fast now, it was as though it were flying. It was said that the garm hunts the souls of the dead. Others say it guards the gates of Hel, where Wugmorts who are bad during life are banished to spend eternity.

Fucking hate that

My hand had hit something unfamiliar. I opened my lantern and peered over the edge of my planks. There was not much to see. Except one thing. I had nailed twenty boards as rungs against my tree’s trunk and now I counted twenty-one. That was what my hand hit. An extra board that shouldn’t have been there.

OOO SECRETS

there it was: a small, flat metal box. Inside was a scroll. I unrolled it. It was surprisingly long to have fitted inside such a small space. I shone my lantern light on it and caught my breath. It was a map. It was a map of something I never thought anyone could have mapped. It was a map of the Quag.

Awww here we go

Yet this was clearly the message from Quentin Herms. But it was far more elaborate than the cryptic one I had swallowed back at Stacks. This map also could be construed as him contacting me and Jurik Krone had been especially clear on that point. If Quentin contacted me and I did not tell Council, I could be sent to Valhall. For how long, he hadn’t said. But even one light and night in that grim place would be far too long. And since it was illegal to enter the Quag, it would most certainly be against our laws to have a map of the place. That would get me in Valhall faster than Delph could say “Wotcha, Vega Jane.”

And so we’re gonna throw the map away right?

But in truth my curiosity overrode my fear. I raised the wick on my lantern and studied the map.

For fucks sake

My knees shaky, I straightened and looked down at the coiled chain. I was afraid to touch it, but I tentatively reached out a finger. I kept reaching until my finger grazed one of the links. It felt warm to the touch, even though the metal should have been cold. I gripped the same link between two of my fingers and lifted it up. The chain uncoiled as I drew it upward. It was long. In the light of the Noc, it seemed to pulsate, glow even, as though it had a heart, which of course it could not. I looked more closely and saw that there were letters imprinted on some of the links. Together they spelled — D-E-S-T-I-N. Destin? I had no idea what that meant.

Destin magical chain thingy

This was Alvis Alcumus, who was said to have founded Wormwood. Yet if he founded the place, that meant he had come from some other place. I mentioned this once at Learning, and I thought the Preceptor was going to have me committed to the Care.

Asking the real questions

“I ask you not to tell your brother about your parents, Vega.” “What?” I said, gaping at her. “He has to know.” “His knowing of their disappearance cannot help in any way. And it will distract him from his duties on the Wall.” “His duties on the Wall?” I cried out. “So we keep him ignorant of his mother and father being gone?” “I can assure you that he is indispensible. I have given instructions to Krone and others on Council to say nothing. And all Wugs involved at the Care have been similarly cautioned. I would ask that you keep this information to yourself as well. Please.” Something struck me. “But if you’ve done all that, you knew that they had disappeared before Krone told you.” She looked a bit chagrined that I had deduced this, which boosted my spirits just a bit. “It is my job to know such things, Vega. Will you not tell him?” I couldn’t say anything for a sliver while she and I stared at each other over the width of my doorway. Finally, I nodded my head. “I won’t tell him.”

I can’t tell if Morrigone is an ally or enemy but she’s really starting to make me hate her

Eon held up two keys that he had taken from his cloak pocket and handed them to me. “One will take you to the past; the other, your future.” “They’re gold!” I said in wonder. Eon nodded. “Any key used to open something enchanted is made of gold.” I smiled at this strange remark. “Is that a rule?” “It is more than a mere rule, for rules can be changed. It is truth.”

Not all rules will be truth

“So many fascinating events that might have taken place did not because one lacked the courage to open a certain portal.” “Well, sometimes it might be smarter not to open it,” I said stoutly.

Like the door with the giant pit or whatever ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Simply because you’ve lived through something doesn’t mean you understand its true significance or even recall the details of it correctly.

I can’t remember half my childhood lmao

At the end of a lifetime’s worth of lights and nights, it seemed that family was really the only important thing there was. And yet how many of us truly appreciated that significance before our last breath left us? We lost family all the time, and we mourned them and buried them and remembered them. Wouldn’t it be better to celebrate family while they are alive to a greater degree than when they are no longer with us?

Hold on while I go call my mom and dad…

I ran as fast as I’d ever run, even as I could see the shadow of the colossal blocking out the light and reaching ahead of me by a handful of yards. I was never going to make it, not while carrying both the Elemental and Harry Two. And I was unwilling to sacrifice either one. And then it occurred to me. “You prat,” I told myself. As the shadow of the falling colossal engulfed me, I lifted off the ground and soared straight ahead,

You know, I don’t blame you for forgetting about a weird magical flying chain on your waist

I spun in the air, faced the oncoming jabbit and threw the Elemental. In my mind, it flew straight and true at the target. The jabbit exploded and the Elemental flew in a graceful curve right back into my gloved hand.

And of course she’s a pro

And the bulge in my cloak pocket was the Adder Stone. I rose and held the Elemental tighter. What was I to do with the thing? It was as tall as I was. I couldn’t carry it around Wormwood. I couldn’t really hide it. And as though the thing could read my mind, it shrunk down to the size of an ink stick. I stared at it, dumbstruck.

It occurred to me that I had not returned to Eon even though he had said time travelers did. Yet then again I was not supposed to be seen, heard or harmed while I traveled back in time. I looked at a burn on my arm. Well, I had been seen, heard, injured and nearly killed. I touched the burn and pain shot all the way down my arm. “Oi, Eon,” I called angrily out to the air. “You need to rethink your rules of time. They’re a bit dodgy.”

“Good stuff in here,” he said. He pulled out a hard-boiled egg, popped it into his mouth and swallowed it whole. The next instant, he was on the ground holding his belly because that’s where I kicked him. Non snagged my arm to hold me back. “We’ll nae have that.” “He just stole my food!” I shouted.

“Krone has told me the lay of the land. You and Morrigone. She will nae always be there to protect you.” I ripped my hand free. Around my waist Destin felt on fire. “I didn’t need her to do that, did I?” I shot back, pointing at the dent. Before he could say anything else, I hurried on my way. I didn’t like being stopped by Wugs with mortas.

I suddenly realized I had a problem. I couldn’t remember where I had buried the book. I walked past each pine tree, examining the ground underneath for the little pile of needles I had placed over the hole I’d dug. Of course, after all this time, the little pile of needles had been blown away by the wind or else carried off by creatures to construct their nests. I was cursing myself again for being so blindly stupid, when I heard it. Or rather, heard him. “Wo-wo-wotcha, Vega Jane.” I turned slowly around and saw Delph standing there. “Hello, Delph,” I replied. He drew even closer. He looked tired and while his hair was no longer white because he had not been working in the Mill, it was long and scraggly and right dirty black. He held up my book. I stared at it and then at him, unsure whether I should claim ownership. “C-c-can I c-come t-too, Ve-Vega Jane?”

“Didn’t say. And then it happened.” “The red light?” The look on his face was so fearful, my heart went out to him. “’Twas fire. Fire the likes of which I ain’t never seen. It was fire that … that was alive. It … it flamed up all around Virgil, like a serpent swallowing him whole. And then … and then he floated up in the air. And then … and then … he was gone. Without making a sound.” Delph paused, staring ahead. “Not one sound,” he added in what was no more than a whisper.

He paused, licked his lips. “And then I run ’cause Morrigone saw me.” “What did she look like?” “Like she would kill me if she could get to me. I run harder than I ever run in all my sessions. But she was faster. She was there, before I got out the door, she was. Then that’s when it happened.” “What happened?” “The red light.” “But I thought the red light happened with my grandfather. It was the flames.” “No. The red light … the red light happened to me, Vega Jane.” I thought back to when I had been in the past at Morrigone’s home. After seeing Delph run away. She had seen me, waved her hand and there had been a blue light. I looked at Delph. “Delph, are you sure the light wasn’t blue?” He shook his head. “’Twas red, Vega Jane. ’Twas red. Like the fire.” “And what happened after that?” “My head felt all funny-like. But I was running still. I kept running. And … and then that’s all. Just running.” He turned to me, looking drained by all he had recounted. “Why did you ask if the light was blue?” “Because that’s the color it was when Morrigone waved her hand at me.” He looked nearly petrified by these words. “You were there?” “But I never remembered it, Delph. It was gone until I saw it again.” “But then why did I just remember pieces of it, then? Until now?” “Difference between blue and red light, I guess,” I said,

Then something else struck me. I stared hard at Delph. He finally said, “What is it, Vega Jane?” “Delph, you’re not stuttering anymore.” He looked shaken by this observation; his mouth dropped open and then a smile slowly spread over his features. “You’re right.” He smiled more broadly. “But why?” I asked. “The words ain’t jargoled no more, Vega Jane.” He touched his head. “In here.” I put a hand on his arm. “The weight has lifted from you, Delph. I don’t think you’ll ever stutter again. And I’m so sorry I had to put you through that. So very sorry, Delph, because you’re my friend. My only one.”

He looked terrified. “Fly? What, up there?” he said, pointing to the sky. “Well, that’s sort of the point of flying, Delph.”

“Yes, it is. Just don’t look down yet. It takes some getting used to and —” That was a mistake. As soon as I said “don’t look down,” Delph of course looked down. His grip around my waist became iron, his body tensed and he screamed and rolled. That sent us into a dive. We were heading to the ground far faster than I ever had, but then I realized I had never before flown with a 250-pound Wug on my back.

“Now what?” I said in amazement. “Delph, you’ve been flying with me for how long now? What do I do?” “You either run and take off or you just jump,” he replied promptly. “So don’t you reckon that’s what you want to do?” “Should I run or jump?” he asked tentatively. Males. You have to lead them to the water and then show them how to slurp it. “I don’t care. Pick one.”

“I wouldnae b-b-be staring at your … at your Wu-Wugness,” stammered Delph,

“Your Wugness” talking about her body here lmao

On nearly every piece of parchment there was something that could kill you. Like a creature that was three huge bodies attached. And while you might be able to cleave them apart, the book warned that Woe be to the Wug who forgets that destroying one part of the thing does not equal victory.

That’s comforting

But there were some beneficial creatures as well, including something called a Hob that would help you so long as you gave it a small gift each light. Cheeky blighter, I thought, trading kindness for coin.

Hob

“We Wugmorts have to accept the fact that there should be more equality between males and females.” Okay, I thought, if they wanted equality how about having more than one female at Stacks? Or telling males that they could cook and clean and tend to the very youngs just as well as females? Somehow, though, I didn’t see getting one’s brains smashed in by a far stronger male Wug as resounding evidence of a forward-thinking society.

Also the fact that females have no training whatsoever.