by Saxon Andrew
“But why would they do this?”
“You know how Tal feels about being the center of attention. He decided that he wasn’t going to allow it to happen again.”
“Again?” Jee asked.
“You saw how uncomfortable he was at his wedding. I think it’s partly our fault that he decided to do it now instead of later.”
“What did we do?”
Jan shook her head slightly and her eyes were moist, “We decided to get married without them present.”
“BUT…”
“I told Mom that you and Mamani were present when Dorman and I were married. Mom isn’t dumb and I’m sure she figured out that you and Mamani were married at the same time. There is no way she would have allowed Tal to pull a disappearing act and not be at our weddings. By being selfish and doing it, there was nothing to stop them.”
“But Jan, we needed to…”
“I know, Jee,” Jan interrupted. “And Mom didn’t blame us for doing it. But we should have anticipated this happening and discussed it with them.”
“How do we find them, Jan?”
“We don’t.” Jee’s brow furrowed on the monitor and Jan shrugged, “Our parents are the best assassins to ever come out of the Guild; if they don’t want to be found, they won’t. We’ll just have to wait for them to find us.”
“But I need them!”
“No, you don’t, Jee. You’ve become someone they are very proud of and you can stand on your own now. Your saving the colonies proved to them that their task of raising us was done. I miss them terribly already…but I know I’m prepared to take on anything life throws at Dorman and me. So are you, Jee.”
“What are you going to do, Jan?”
“Resign from the service and start a family.”
“Where?”
“We’re still discussing it; I’ll let you know. What about you?”
“I’m going to stay in the fleet. Mamani and I have several centuries ahead of us and we’re not in a rush to have a family.”
“You’re so much like our father, Jee. Stay in touch and I love you so much.”
“I love you, too, Jan.”
• • •
Admiral Ward assumed command of the fleet and they headed to the colonies leaving the final remains of the evil civilization behind them. Greg contacted the Chancellor reporting that Admirals Talent had disappeared.
The search for the missing admirals began immediately after the victory was announced and celebrations began on all the worlds inhabited by humanity, but they were nowhere to be found.
After the celebrations ended and the heroes were recognized for their accomplishments, the governments on every world began an intensive search to find Tal and Ka. The Chancellor on Earth and the President of the colonies demanded that humanity’s greatest heroes be found. The search went on for months and turned up empty. The missing admirals became one of the great mysteries in human history. Though they were never found, every planet had monuments erected in honor of their memory. The history of their deeds grew over the years and they became larger than life for humanity. Humanity knew that Tal and Ka had extended life spans and there were numerous reported sightings but none of them proved to be true. Those that knew them best knew they would never be found.
• • •
He sat on a towel with is eyes closed and felt the gentle gulf breeze blow over him. He smiled and suddenly felt a shadow block out the sun on his face. He waited a few moments and it didn’t go away. He opened his eyes and saw someone was standing beside him blocking the sun, “Would you mind moving; you’re blocking the sun.” The man didn’t move but said, “I thought you’d never want to see another sun.”
Tal shaded his eyes with his hand and saw Duncan standing over him. “DUNCAN!!” Tal jumped to his feet and wrapped Duncan up in a bear hug lifting him off the ground.”
“Hey, HEY! Ease off on the hug!”
Ka turned over on her towel and leapt to her feet. She rushed over and wrapped Duncan up in a hug and Duncan started laughing. “I’ve missed you, too!”
Tal’s smile was huge as Ka asked, “How did you find us?”
“It wasn’t as hard as you think, Ka.”
Tal released Duncan, “No one else has managed to do it.”
Duncan raised his shoulders, “There aren’t many that knew how much you loved this beach. It was Natalie that suggested I look for you here.”
“How is she doing, Duncan?” Tal quickly asked.
“We were married at the end of the war and she’s at home with our daughter.”
“Congratulations, Duncan!” Ka squealed. “What did you name her?”
Duncan smiled, “Talent Montana. We call her Tal.”
Tal’s eyes moistened and Ka hugged Duncan again. “Why have you come looking for us, Duncan?”
“I avoided doing it before now because I worried that the reporters would follow me wherever I went in hopes I’d lead them to you. They stopped doing that about a year ago.”
Tal said, “Sit down and tell us everything that’s happened.”
Duncan was wearing a tee-shirt and a bathing suit and he sat down beside Ka on her towel, “You look just like I remember you on the first voyage on the cruise ship to Earth. The one you mimicked was very beautiful, Ka.”
Ka nodded and lowered her head, “Jil was killed so I could take her place on the cruise. She was a wonderful person, Duncan, and didn’t deserve to die.”
“I’m sorry for that Ka but if she and her husband hadn’t died, none of this would have happened. I think you’re honoring her by taking her appearance.”
“That’s how you found us, isn’t it?” Tal asked.
“I knew how much you loved this beach and I decided to come here and walk around for a few days hoping I was right. I am the only one that saw Zak and Jil on the cruise ship and knew they were assassins being sent to Earth. As soon as I saw you here, I knew I had found you. Have you let Jan and Jee know where you are?”
“We visited Jan and Dorman on Haven when their first child was born. We used a different image when we made that trip. Jee was there and we let them know how to contact us in case of an emergency,” Tal answered.
“What about the members of your former fleet?”
Tal smiled at Duncan, “You must know something?”
“I know that Jab and Ryshana live next door to the house you’re lying in front of and Tee and Lori are building a rather huge house a quarter of a mile south of here.”
“Boy, you’re good!” Ka remarked.
“I’m curious about how you managed to move your wealth without being tracked doing it,” Duncan replied.
Tal shrugged, “We let Tee take care of that. We signed forms that allowed him to transfer it into one of his blind corporations. He brought us cash cards with unlimited funds attached to them and they can’t be traced.”
Duncan turned around and looked at their house, “Who lives on the other side of you?”
“Someone out of state owns it. They mentioned last winter that they are considering selling it.”
Duncan smiled, “Give me their contact number.”
Ka smiled, “Are you considering buying it?”
“I am. I’m retiring shortly and leaving Jee in command of the fleets. He’s done an outstanding job since you disappeared.”
“What about Greg? He’s also a good choice to command the fleets,” Tal remarked.
“I asked if he would be interested but he declined. He asked to be given command of Earth’s defense forces. I think he wants to stay close to home.”
“Why are you trying to find us, Duncan?” Ka inquired.
Duncan snorted, “You mean other than missing you very much?”
Ka nodded, “I know you and you wouldn’t look for us if there was a remote possibility you might be followed. There’s another reason you’re here that you haven’t told us.
Duncan huffed out a breath, before saying, “You’ve always amazed me with your ability to see
things, Ka.”
“What’s the reason, Duncan?” Ka pressed.
“I was part of the delegation sent to negotiate with the aliens in Andromeda to work out trade and defense agreements. The alien’s leaders made it clear that they wanted to deal with you, Tal; you earned their trust. We were forced to tell them that we had no idea where you were. It took a while but one of the alien military leaders convinced them that they could trust us as well. Before I left after the negotiations were complete, a Crayen high ranking officer asked me to deliver a message to you.”
Tal glanced at Ka, “That had to be the Order Giver.” Ka nodded.
Duncan continued, “I told him that you had disappeared but he insisted I take the message anyway and deliver it to you if you ever turned up.” Duncan held out a message cube.
Tal took the cube and handed it to Ka. She pulled the portable music player over and removed the music cube. She inserted the message cube and they immediately recognized the Order Giver’s voice.
“I missed you at the negotiations, my friend. However, I fully understand why you chose to disappear; I’m sick of all the cheers and adulation everywhere I go; I wish I had done the same thing. However, I didn’t and now I’m stuck with being elected to a high position in our new government. Be thankful you avoided all this mess that followed the destruction of the Cyrens and Invaders.”
The voice paused and then continued, “I’m reasonably certain that the leaders of your species were somewhat surprised how willing we were to accept your offers and bind our civilizations together.” Tal glanced at Duncan and he nodded. “They saw how powerful your warships were and wanted to make sure they were never used against them; at least that was their spoken reason for making the treaties so quickly. It wasn’t the real reason and I feel that you should know what they didn’t tell you.”
Ka paused the recording and turned to Duncan, “Have you listened to this?”
“No, Ka, I haven’t. This is all new to me and I don’t know what he’s getting at.”
Ka started the recording again and they heard the Order Giver chuckle, “Your friend that I gave this message to insists that finding you is impossible, but I know he’s wrong. I can see in his expression that he cares for you a great deal and I have no doubt he can find you if he wants. That’s how love is, my friend, it can’t hide from those that feel it. So, if you’re listening to this, thank him for bringing you my message.”
The Order Giver paused and then said in a serious tone, “What you probably don’t know is that the Cyrens were just like your species and the Invaders; they came to my galaxy from somewhere else; they did not evolve there. And all three of you came there for similar reasons; you were being attacked by more powerful forces. The Invaders came to escape your species from killing them. You came there and settled planets because your planets were being attacked by a powerful alien civilization from another galaxy. The Cyrens also came to our galaxy to escape destruction.”
Tal’s eyes narrowed and saw that Ka and Duncan were also surprised by what they were hearing. “We assisted the Cyrens in finding a planet they could live on more than two hundred years before the Invaders first arrived in our galaxy a thousand years ago. Over the centuries, the leaders of our civilizations regretted helping them find that planet. They imposed borders around it and became quite demanding that everyone stays out of their domain, but they never threatened to attack us until your ships showed up. I believe that they feared allowing any advanced civilization getting a foothold in our galaxy. They saw you as a threat. That fear had to come from the time before they arrived in our galaxy.”
The Order Giver paused again and then said, “I think our civilizations always wondered if the ones that drove the Cyrens to our galaxy would ever show up. But after more than a thousand years, they haven’t. However, the fear of that happening is always in the back of our minds. It’s that nagging fear that caused us to unite with your species in a common defense agreement. I felt that I had to tell you this because we weren’t telling the whole truth during the negotiations. I know now that the war is over, you might be considering stepping back from continuing developing your weapon technology; I would suggest you not do that. The Cyrens arrived in those giant warships and someone had them frightened for their lives. I felt you had to know this and that’s why I sent this message. I do hope you’ll come and see me eventually. You have my frequency and I do look forward to sharing memories with you in the future. If it doesn’t happen, I thank you for saving us from the Invaders and Cyrens. Have a great life, my friend.”
Ka stopped the recording, took the message cube out of the player, and held it out to Duncan, “You should take this and play it to the Chancellor.”
“He’ll have to know I’ve spoken to you, if I do, Ka.”
“No, he doesn’t, Duncan,” Tal interrupted. “Just tell him the Crayen military leader gave it to you and you decided to go ahead and listen to it when we couldn’t be found.” Duncan stared at Tal and then nodded.
“What are you thinking, Duncan?” Ka asked.
“I’m considering sending out scouts to the galaxies around us to see if there is a threat.”
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you?”
Duncan turned to Tal, “Why not?”
“You saw the technology of the Cyrens and something chased them away from their planet. They fled here not knowing if there was a planet in this galaxy that they could live on; they were lucky one existed. I can imagine the level of fear that must have drove them out of their original galaxy. Whoever threatened them was more highly advanced than the Cyrens and you have no idea if our new scouts won’t be detected if they run into that civilization. They could inadvertently lead them back to us.”
“But Tal, there’s a highly dangerous civilization out there!!”
Tal raised a hand and waved it above him, “Duncan! Just look up at the stars at night and I imagine there are dangerous civilizations anywhere you look. Hell, we’re one of them. There are billions of galaxies out there and we can’t go out looking for trouble…we might just find it! Follow the Order Giver’s advice and continue to work on developing our weapon technology. Keep developing it and don’t stop.” Tal paused and turned to Ka. He smiled softly and added, “This issue is for others to handle. Our time is over and now it’s up to someone else to lead humanity. I would suggest you share any new developments with the civilizations that originally attacked the colonies as well as the new allies in Andromeda. The stronger we are together, a conquering civilization may decide that it’s not worth the price to take us on.”
“Tal, I don’t know that I can just sit back and do nothing.”
Ka smiled, “Duncan, everyone that lived in the colonies before the wars knew that there were thousands of assassins among them and that they could be killed at any time. There was nothing they could do about it, so they accepted it and lived their lives normally. Tal is right about there being dangerous civilizations out there and there’s nothing we can do about that, either. Accept that and do what you can to live normally. Trust me, Duncan, it’s not as hard as you think.”
“So, you’re suggesting we just wait for them to show up at our door?” Duncan said with a scowl.
“It’s that or go out looking for them and we’ll be fighting wars for the centuries to come!” Tal replied quickly. “It’s better to just take them on one at a time as they show up.”
“But what if they’re so far advanced we can’t beat them?”
Tal laughed, “If that’s the case, it’s better to meet the lion on our turf than in its den. It’s better to build our technologies against the day one might show up. Who knows, they may never come and we’ll just live in peace in our little corner of the universe.”
Duncan inhaled a deep breath and blew it out slowly, “I need to resign.”
Tal laughed, “Buy the house, Duncan. After a few weeks watching the waves and the seagulls, you’ll find that your fear will disappear. Give Jee the message cube and tell
him to take it to the Chancellor after your resignation. Let those that are paid the big bucks worry about this.”
“What if they make a bad decision?”
Ka laughed, “The Chancellor will contact you for advice before he does something stupid and just tell him what we’ve told you. After that, come out and lay with us on the beach. You’ve paid your dues and now it’s time to leave it to others to handle.”
Duncan stared at Ka and then saw Tal nodding with a smile. Duncan stood up and looked out at the beach. After a moment, he smiled and walked away. Tal and Ka watched him go and saw Jab and Ryshana coming out to join them on the beach. Ka snuggled into Tal’s shoulder and smiled, “Do you miss it, my love?”
Tal lowered his head, “I’ve killed more humans and aliens than live on Earth and all the colonies combined. I think that is enough for any assassin, Ka. I’ll never kill again and I don’t miss any of it. I’m where I want to be and with those that I love. Life has never been better and never will.” Ka leaned up and kissed him as Tam came running through the sand to jump into Tal’s arms.
Epilogue
The war had ended three weeks earlier when the Zak’s Jill arrived above the blue and green planet. Jab looked at the front monitor and said, “The scout was right. The shuttle that left the Brotherhood planets came here.”
Ryshana saw the farming community on the monitor and frowned, “These are the last ones.” Jab nodded and Ryshana turned to him, “Get on with it!”
Jab stared at the monitor and shook his head, “Something is different.”
“They’re members of the Brotherhood, Jab. Kill them!” Ryshana said from clenched teeth.”
Jab stared at the monitor and turned to Ryshana, “You have the ship.”
“WHERE ARE YOU GOING?”
“I’m taking a shuttle down to the planet.”
“Jab just do it!” Jab shook his head and walked off the bridge. Ryshana turned to Bobby, “You have the ship!” She jumped out of her chair and ran after Jab. She caught him in the corridor leading to the landing bay, “Why are you doing this?”