The Phobos Transit Quilters Guild

Epilogue - The Seams All Came Together

[Mavis - Three hundred Martian days later]

The tavern was a mess. I slumped down in a chair, splaying out my legs and tilting my head back. "That was some shin-dig," I muttered, "but I'm done tuckered out now."

"It was," my husband Walt concurred. "Take a load off for a spell, and I'll start cleaning up."

Walt bent down and placed soft kisses on my exposed neck, narrowing in on that one spot that always sent tingles down my spine to my nether regions. I glared at him — he did that on purpose — to which he responded with a boyish 'who me?' expression. He can be so pleasantly aggravating.

Greta pranced up to us, chewing half a sweet pastry. "Where did you get these cherry tarts, Ma? They are so good!"

"I made them myself," Walt said, lifting his chin in pride.

Tilting her head and batting lashes, Greta cooed to him, "Marry me."

"Phfft," he responded with an eye twinkle. "I can barely handle the wife I have now."

"And don't you forget it," I responded, pointing a finger. "Move along now, Greta, before I pitch a hissy fit."

Greta sauntered away, giggling, and Walt went back to clearing tables with Lilli. Everybody 'round here liked to yank on my chain.

But I couldn't get too worked up, 'cause this was a happy day. Cassy and Eric just got hitched right here in my fine drinking establishment. Eric promised to take her to Paradise, and he'll deliver on that. They will leave soon on the Ark Hope as crew, taking the next batch of four-thousand colonists to Tau Ceti Four, otherwise known as Paradise. Once there, they plan to settle down and, I suspect, make little colonists.

We gave them a one-of-a-kind handmade quilt as a wedding present. Of course.

With all the Paradise colonists coming up to the station, several hundred at a time, business has been good, and we've been busier than cross-eyed chickens on an anthill. Before going into stasis for the eighteen-year trip, they all wanted a drink or two at the Starlight Tavern, and we were happy to oblige.

Kate and John were going, too, 'specially since he was ship captain. They made an interesting couple. Kate's been tryin' to train him up, but I think he's training her more. Kinda like Walt and me.

And then there's Val and Zoe. Val got her operations engineer job back with a big promotion, and Greta got Zoe a spot helping out at the Child Development Center. I'm almost expectin' Val and Zoe to headline the next big hitchin' party here in the Starlight Tavern. We'll see...

Cory's death hit Shera hard, so she took some time off from her security job. Although she never said, we all think Cory was more to her than a good friend. But the Guild was there for her, because that's what we do.

Finally, all the hoopla from the station invasion had died down. The word got out about the Phobos Transit Quilters Guild and we were famous for a while. But not all of us were comfortable with the attention, 'specially Cassy, so Harley and Mona stepped up as unofficial spokeswomen, telling our tale to the reporter hordes. Although, they stretched the story a bit, here and there.

The Martian Territorial Governor even came up to give us shiny medals and wordy political proclamations. Some good came of it all, though. In a few weeks, negotiations between the Earth Council and Mars Dawn will be held right here in my humble tavern. Might as well make some history.

But the best part was that Andras and Khlo won an all-expenses-paid lifetime stay at a Martian penal resort. Brennan Kurst's testimony, in exchange for a lighter sentence, and Val's recordings from the station security feeds sealed the deal.

Somehow, the seams all came together.

My eyes lifted to the old quilt hanging behind the bar — the one that says in block letters 'redemption comes stitch by stitch.' And so it does. "Really need to get that quilt cleaned sometime," I muttered to myself.

With a touch on my shoulder, Walt caught my attention. He tilted his head toward a woman sittin' by herself near the window, peering out over the planet below. She was a pretty young thing with long auburn hair, but a lower lip shudder spoke of recent sorrow. "Looks like another potential guild recruit," he said.

Lilli raised an eyebrow as she passed by. "Two therapy specials?"

"Yup."

I walked over and plopped down across from the woman, and her moist eyes lifted to mine. "I noticed you lookin' kinda down, hun," I said.

Lilli plopped down two shot glasses filled with amber Martian whiskey. As I slid one over to the woman, she wrinkled her forehead. "What's this?"

"Liquid therapy," I replied, leaning forward. "Ever quilted before?"