“Yes, Mom, that’s how it goes sometimes.” Tom
slouched in an old chair with his hand on his head.
“We’re glad you came to spend some of your down
time here. Zalara is such a precocious little thing. She’s grown so much in a
year.”
“I don’t want her to grow up on an interstellar
ship. She should have sunlight and friends, not computers and a bunch of old
boring scientists to keep her busy.”
Tom couldn’t contain his anxiety in the atmosphere
of his home. Although not where he had grown up, everything that made the home
of his childhood a home had simply been picked up and placed in this new
dwelling. Furnishings were comfortable, old photographs stood across the top of
the baby grand piano, and the scent of cinnamon coming from the kitchen took
him back in time forty years as if it was yesterday.
Mrs. Jackson turned to Rianya and shook her head.
“I don’t know what to do,” Rianya said softly.
“This is exactly why I never considered having a
family in the past. I can’t leave you behind, and I shouldn’t take you, but
we’re going to Beta Hydri. Zalara is entitled to know her mother’s family.”
At the mention of her name the girl crawled out
from under the piano and bounced up to the small party, jumping in her father’s
lap. She put her hand on his forehead, then removed it and sat still but for
swinging her legs a little.
“Nothing there,” she announced.
“Thank you for checking, Pet.”
“’Lara, come with grandmamma and let’s see if the cinnamon
bread is ready,” the older woman coaxed with her hand held out. Ever trusting
despite her abduction a year ago, the child slid off the man’s leg, took the
proffered hand and skipped out of the room with her father’s mother.
“She trusts too easily,” Rianya said.
“She gets that from you, not from humans. We’re a
very untrusting people.”
Tom and Rianya sat in silence, both looking out
the large window at the Tualip Bay, dock, and quiet Pacific Ocean to the west.
“The two of you could stay here. I’d feel safe
knowing you lived with my family.”
“I want to go home and see my family.
Zalara should know my first family.” Tom stood up and paced across the living
room of his parent’s retirement home. He told himself that it was going to be
alright, taking them along, as they’d planned while still on Enceladus. He just
had to forget about the Maria Mitchell. A clock that had suffered from old age
when Tom was a child ticked off seconds rather loudly from its station on the
piano where it seemed to have always been forever and a day.
“I agree. I agree one hundred percent. I was so excited
that we could go quickly, and now I have to consider the long term effects for
you two.”
“It not matter, Tom. We see my family on Kinnae,
you going so we going.” He walked back and sat down with her on the sofa. A white
shore bird suddenly zipped past the window.
Hearing regression in her speech he put his arm
around her shoulders. Her body didn’t yield at first; he pulled her closer and
nudged at her until she turned to look at him. “You’re upset. I won’t leave you
here on Earth if you want to go. I’m just sorry we had to fall back on plan A.”
Zalara and her grandmamma returned with a tray of
cinnamon buns and a pot of coffee, setting it all on the low table near the
window. Tom was the first to arrest the coffee. The girl had already seized a
sticky roll and focused her attention on it with gusto. He wondered if she had
inherited his passion for sugar.
“Where is Quixote, does it eat these things or
just bugs?” Tom barely contained sputtering a mouthful of
coffee onto the bread tray and coughed a little.
“Mom, you have a way with words, you know? Xe eats
animals and plants like us, but just doesn’t cook them. I don’t think bugs
would be much of a meal for someone xe’s size.”
“There Quixote,” Zalara said. She placed a sticky
finger on the plate glass window and pointed at the two people walking up the
trail towards the house. One was Quixote, the other was her grandpapa. Tom
could tell the ice chest was heavy from the awkward way Quixote tried to walk
with it. Obviously they’d filled it with fish, hopefully wild salmon, but if
nothing else they would have cod and halibut for sure.
That evening Tom’s sister, Olivia, her husband,
Daniel, and their son Arthur Thomas, arrived to join in the reunion. Zalara
glommed onto her cousin Arthur as soon as he walked in the door, putting her
hand in his and clamping on.
“Not sick anymore,” she said with surprise. “You
had sick everywhere.”
“You’re the reason I’m not sick anymore,” the boy
said to her. The adults stood and watched the boy humor the half alien girl’s puzzlement.
“Not directly,” he added and made an effort to skirt around her and give Tom
and Rianya both a serious hug.
“So how did it go? We haven’t made contact with
the doctor in order to preserve the safety network.”
“Well,” Olivia began, “no one knew where you were,
that’s for sure. But it didn’t take long for Karabou to get in touch with us.
We went down to Palm Springs and had to get a room for a couple of nights
because the word had gotten out and what a circus just to get in to see her.”
“And Tom,” Daniel said, leaning forward a little
into the conversation, “she didn’t charge us. She wasn’t charging anyone. The
entire population got the cure at no cost.”
“How did they manage that?” Rianya asked. “Seems
that was the only thing anyone was thinking about a year ago.”
“The scandal that came from Zalara’s kidnapping
brought the governments into the equation,” Mrs. Jackson said. “They support
the costs, doctors are required to treat at no charge. I kept some of the files
about it if you ever want to see them, but it doesn’t seem important anymore,
so long as both my grandchildren are here.”
“She told Olivia and I that the Salk vaccine for
polio was free, and she wanted to do something for the right reason,” Daniel
said.
“’Bou has her qualities,” he said casually, hoping
Rianya wouldn’t take his words as anything relating to the woman personally.
“Dr. Boo?” Zalara said. “Where’s Dr. Boo?”
“She’s in South California; she’s not here,” Tom
said quickly. Three years had passed but he hadn’t forgotten the awkward
relationship Doctor Karabou Clarke had put the three of them in during their
unplanned exile together on Beta Hydri IV. Although Tom and Karabou had gotten
over each other long ago, Tom still had an all but imperceptible tic when the
doctor’s name came up that Rianya could see a mile away.
Tom sat on the dock most of the next day, soaking
in the ocean climate as if he could take it with him. He faced west toward the
edge of the Earth to enjoy the heat of the sun on his face, and watched both sailing
ships and motor powered boats coming and going, loading and unloading, throwing
ropes and ringing bells.
The simple life on the sea didn’t compare anymore
to the seemingly eternal journeys in space. He was a Magellan, a Columbus,
without satellites to guide the way, without radar to find dangers beneath the
keels, without even cellular coms to talk to humans on the land. Every person
was utterly dependent on every other while on that ship, and the crew became
the family.
Leisurely footsteps fell quietly on the antique
wooden dock, worn smooth from the thousands of rubber soled shoes and bare feet
that had trodden it for centuries. The sun in the south cast shadows behind
him; he didn’t need to see a shadow to know the cadence of Rianya’s foot falls.
When the sound stopped he looked up over his shoulder.
“I found you,” she said, and sat down, dropping
her legs over the edge. With the exception of a duty uniform, all garments in
her wardrobe were one piece dresses of varying colors, lengths, and shapes. Her
shift was a splotchy green and brown that resembled leaves in the forest. The
onshore breeze ruffled her mane, exposing the small ridges around her ears and
the rosy spots on her neck and shoulders. She swung her feet a little, and
looked at Tom’s injured foot.
“It still looks as if it hurts,” she said.
“I’ve gotten used to it. I’ll have Dr. Clarke take
the baby toe from my right foot and then we’ll all look alike.”
“I and 'Lara supposed to have four, not you,” she
bumped her shoulder against him and he wrapped an arm around her. “And not Dr.
Clarke,” she muttered. Tom was amused at her hint of jealousy but he was also
sure she was kidding with him.
“Oh, I want to give you something, and I forgot it
was in this pair of slacks,” he said, and fished around in one of his deep
pockets until he felt the musgravite gem between his fingers. He pulled it out
and blew the lint off, then opened his palm to show her the half-centimeter,
hyacinth gem, cut in the shape of a teardrop. As Erik had promised, he’d had the
rock cut and returned it to Tom before they left Enceladus.
“What is it?” she asked, touching it gingerly.
“It’s my toe,” he said with a straight face.
Rianya jerked her finger away.
“What?”
“It’s a two carat stone of musgravite.” He searched
her face but she hadn’t yet mastered his sense of humor. “On Enceladus. This is
what I was after when I fell in the ice hole.” She looked up from the stone to
his face. “Not as pretty as your eyes but almost.” He looked at the stone again
and she picked it up between two slender fingers as if it were a baby
hummingbird.
“It’s beautiful. It’s just beautiful.”
“I meant to have it set but time sort of got away
from me.”
“This is worth as much as a house,” she whispered.
He wanted to tell her it was worth a toe but she’d just feel guilty and not get
the joke.
“No, it’s priceless.”
“You’re just walking round with it in your
pocket?” He took it back from her and examined it in the sunlight.
“I guess I should put it in a box, at least.”
“That’s what you and Erik were doing? I thought
you said rock hunting.”
“Well it starts out as a rock.” He shoved it back
down in his pocket and made a mental note to get a box for it, soon.
“You got that for me? You went out on a frozen
moon and nearly died to get me that gem?”
“Well, it sounds more stupid than heroic when you
say it.” She leaned close and kissed him, and he returned her caress.
“I don’t know if you’re the most wonderful man or
the most crazy!”
The next day started early when four Jacksons left
for the Seattle bullet station. Three of
them would embark for the Albuquerque spaceport, 90 minutes and nearly twenty
five hundred kilometers away.
“I’m not use to being up this early,” Tom said,
pushing his face into consciousness as his father landed the pod.
“Are you sure, absolutely sure you’re all going on
this four year trip, again, Tom?” the man asked.
“After all those goodbyes and tears I don’t want to
have to do that again. Besides, Dad, my wife and daughter belong with me.”
“They do, Son. Safe journey,” he said. A firm
handshake was all that followed between them, a kiss for Rianya and a hug and
kiss for Zalara. The three youngest Jacksons boarded the tube, found their
compartment, and settled in to enjoy their final day of real gravity, air, and
daylight.
After arriving in Albuquerque Tom engaged with
Rianya and Zalara once more before he put on his captain’s hat. Secured at one
end of the building he had them stay put, eat, watch the outdoors go by for a
long as possible before their journey would begin.
“We’ll be going to the space dock first, then
board the Hawking. You two just be comfortable until I signal you,” he said,
handing Rianya a small metallic device about the size of a pea. He took a long
look at his two beautiful ladies, the women he cared for and promised to
protect. His stomach was rock hard while his brain convinced him this was a bad
idea. The less he said the better.
“Tom…?” Rianya said, raising her faint brows and focusing
her gaze on him. She could read him like a billboard.
“Everything’s fine, I just have to get to work
now.” He reached over to touch her cheek with the back of his hand, did the
same for the girl and turned quickly. His mission was about to begin. It was
time to engage the professional persona, from more than a year of being Tom and
Papa back to being Captain Thomas K. Jackson, Astral Commander.
He strode to the opposite end of the building past
glass walls on the north side with a view of the landing plot in the distance. Some
of his waiting crew stood and joined him as he approached. Jackson was well
known among the space program personnel and of course known to those he’d
selected for the mission. Before he’d reached the east end ready room reserved
for professional aerospace meetings, he’d gathered five of his final team.
“Quixote, Scott, glad to see you’re both on time,”
he laughed, slapping his two oldest friends on their backs. “Ensign Mills, glad
to have you back in the sick bay,” Jackson said to the youngest member of the
crew. “You’re a PA now,” he acknowledged. The former nurse and Rianya had
developed a good rapport on the long return journey from her home planet, and
Jackson was glad he’d accepted this assignment.
“Watson, good to see you joined us,” the captain
said to the man he put in charge of the computers and communications.
“I can’t think of a more promising assignment,” the
young bridge crew member said proudly.
“Flattery will get you everywhere,” the captain replied
with a light jab to the man’s arm.
“Tom, stop a second,” Scott said. The party paused
in the middle of the building. “Look at you!”
“What?” Tom looked at Watson, Mills and Quixote,
then back at his old college friend.
“Do you boys see it?” Scott asked.
“I do,” Mr. Mills said with a smile on his face.
“What? See what?”
“The anguish is gone.”
“Captain, I think married life agrees with you,”
Mills said, nodding.
“Come on. You just haven’t seen me in a year.”
“No, Tom, that’s what I meant. Rianya must be good
for you. It’s a nice look,” Scott said.
“Well, I was overdue, I guess,” he muttered, and
started walking again. Being single until he was forty eight, well, it seemed
like he’d waited long enough.
“You’re downright happy,” the astrophysicist
remarked. “What are you doing?”
“Doing?” Dr. Gregory and Mr. Mills grinned at each
other. “Oh, yeah.” Tom knew what they were poking fun at and didn’t say anything
right away. “She’s habitually affectionate,” he said factually. “I don’t
understand why you don’t bring Melinda along.”
“She doesn’t like space travel.”
“And she married an astrophysicist.”
“I’m irresistible. Is that Doc Adams?” Scott asked
as they neared a mature gentleman ordering a drink of some kind at a small
beverage stand which sported a sign overhead: “Last Chance”.
“Is that Doc Adams?”
“It is, at least I hope it is,” Jackson said. “Doc!”
he shouted across the hallway. The white haired man turned and waved, took his
cup, then walked towards the small group.
“Jack, it’s good to see you, it’s been a long
time,” the older man said, extending his
hand as they greeted. “Thank you for considering me for this posting.”
“Don’t thank me yet,” Jackson said with a smile
and a nod to the doctor he’d served with more than five years earlier. The old
man hadn’t changed in that time, with the same silver mop on his head that didn’t
resemble regulation military in the least, the smart twinkle in his pale blue
eyes, the slight stoop and the still strong hand grip.
“Is this all of us?” Dr. Scott Gregory asked,
looking at the small party.
“This appears to be all of us in the lobby,”
Jackson said, and innately fell into his role as their captain. His officers,
friends, and colleagues followed him as if he were the piper.
“At ease!” someone shouted when Jackson entered.
Every person in the room stopped talking and stood at parade rest on the spot,
except for Admiral Wallace. Jackson strode up to him at the far end of the
long, steel table and touched his hat briefly. Wallace returned the
gesture.
“Tom,” the flag
officer addressed him. Being friendly was one thing, but he never called an
admiral by his given name. Such protocol was always a downward rank.
“Admiral,” he said, taking the man’s hand. “Who
are all these people? I don’t know a third of them.”
“There’s been a change of plans, Tom.”
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