The Battle for Eden
Page 17
“I will,” Jessie answered, her face serious. “I won’t let the Crabs get us.”
“Oh, I know you won’t,” Simon laughed. “Okay, give me a big hug.” No sooner had the words left his mouth than he was wrapped in a steely grip. He held her tightly to him, feeling the warmth of her small body, so like that of his own little girl in another place, another time. He closed his eyes and sighed. Although he would never forget his wife and child, Jessie and her mother had filled a void where those lost souls had once lived, and their love had allowed him to move on. From this point on, they would be his focus, his family, and he would care for them as his own.
He peeled himself from Jessie’s embrace and turned to her mother. Katherine wiped her eyes as she stepped in close to him. The roar of a departing shuttle washed over them, and she waited to speak until the noise faded. “I’m going to miss you, Simon Roy,” she said, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Think of me while you’re out there, and know we’re here for you whenever you return.”
“You’ll never leave my thoughts,” Simon told her, looking into the depths of her dark eyes. “I don’t want to go, but I have to.”
“I know,” she said, her voice unsteady. “Just come back to me. Promise me that.”
“I promise,” Simon said, and they sealed the deal with a kiss. Then he was walking away across the pavement, turning to wave to the family as he boarded the shuttle. They all waved back, Tyrus and Amanda standing together, their sons Keith and Samuel at their side, Sarah over to their left in a bright blue pantsuit, and Katherine and Jessie holding hands as they smiled at him. He climbed the metal steps into the main shuttle bay, and the doors closed behind him.
As the ship powered upwards, he looked out the small view port at the planet below, thinking of all that he was leaving behind. Chance had dropped him here, and he had found life again, in a place where he had least expected it. He not only had a reason to fight, but now also had something to survive for, and he meant to see the end of this conflict. Eden would always beckon to him, and he would return someday, even if he had to walk through hell to get there.
As his thoughts wandered, the planet’s surface slowly receded, until the continents and oceans became visible as swirls of color below him. Soon the curve of the planet’s surface swam into view, and the ship went still further out, until Eden shrank to become a glowing blue orb hanging in the blackness of space. He settled back in his acceleration seat, feeling a tranquility that he hadn’t experienced in years. Leaving wasn’t so bad, when you knew that home awaited you in the end.
About the Author
Dr. Mark E. Burgess is a veterinarian with a special interest in exotic pets. He has practiced in the Portland, Oregon area for nearly twenty-five years, and is a long-time reader of science fiction and fantasy. His first novel, Dog Daze & Cat Naps: A Vet Student’s Odyssey, was loosely based on his own experiences, and provided a humorous look at four years in veterinary school. Dr. Burgess currently lives with his loving wife, Denise, and two beautiful daughters, Anna and Sarah. 1