The Starchild

by Schuyler Thorpe

  “That depends on how you look at things, yes.” My mentor and teacher told me. The scanner beeped again and Calis studied the end results of the scan.

  “Well,” he announced first off. “The good news is that you don’t have a broken rib. You just cracked it and two others upon landing. You also have some classic back trauma, some neck strain, bruises over thirty percent of your body–including your shins I might add. How did you manage to do that one I wonder?”

  “You’re a slob, old man. I tripped over a half-buried T-bar in Bay Three–right before I got sucked out and sent on my own personal joy ride straight to hell.”

  “Sorry about that. But I had to power down the workshop before the storm hit the area full force.” Calis explained to me in apology. “We may have independent power sources here on the planet, but the shop is still pretty old and needs to be taken well care of. So I can‘t take any outside risk of something going wrong.”

  “How long before the storm passes?”

  “It could be a few more hours.” Calis told me. “But I imagine by then, the worst will be over. Right now, we’re still in the middle of it.”

  I nodded to myself while laying immobile on the gunny sacks.

  “Okay. I can accept that. But I’m hoping I can get home before darkness falls.”

  “Not until I heal you, Isis. You’re not going home in the state you’re in right now.”

  A light bulb went off in my head then.

  “Home? Oh my god…! I completely forgot! I’m supposed to be getting a power converter from you for one of Trell’s pet projects of his!” I blurted out in a hurry–forgetting the fact I was still hurting and still bruised from my experiences.

  “That can wait.” Calis informed me. “For now? Just relax. I’m going to start treating your injuries.”

  “I wish I had something to eat though. But I’m afraid my lunch is still in the workshop somewhere. I remember putting my pack down when I was–oh. Right. The comm station next to your work bench.” I said with a heavy sigh of my own.

  “Don’t worry. I’ll get you something to snack on. I have a few protein bars stashed here for emergencies such as this one.” He said, taking out another ampoule cartridge and placing it in the hypo syringe’s pre-fire chamber.

  “This will take care of your back trauma. But I’ll need to get the bone knitter from the other medical kit in the workshop. I’m afraid this one doesn’t have one.”

  “I can walk if necessary.” I told my mentor and teacher on the spot.

  “You may be able to walk, Isis, but I’m not going to allow it. I can go out and come back. In the meantime, just lay here and try not to move much.” Then he injected me with a second round of medication.

  “Calis–?” I murmured with genuine worry and concern.

  My mentor and teacher smiled up at me.

  “Your concern is appreciated, Isis. But I know my way around these storms and my shop. I’ll be back before you know it.”

  I nodded in quiet defeat. “I know that. I’m just–”

  Calis gripped my shoulder in support.

  “Think of this as a small vacation from your actual home studies.” He said as a passing joke to me.

  My facial expression changed in that moment.

  “That’s not funny old man.” I shot back tiredly, before closing my eyes for a second.

  “What did you just shoot me up with anyways?”

  “A muscle relaxant and maybe a mild sedative.” he said, before closing the medical kit. Then he stood up and leaned over me to put it back on its display mount.

  “I need you docile and compliant. Not agitated.”

  “If I recover from this, I’ll show you who is compliant.” I threatened right then.

  Calis grinned. “That’s my girl. Just sleep it off. You’ll start feeling better in a couple of hours. After that, I’ll see about getting you something to eat for lunch.”

  I nodded sleepily–while trying to stay awake. “I already…brought some.” I managed to tell him.

  “You did? Well, I’ll get that as well. I’m sure you’ll be needing something more than just your average bean paste, spicy lentils and curry.”

  I nodded again…this time almost completely terminal. At this point, I could barely hear the storm raging outside.

  “I don’t…mind.” I added one final time before drifting completely off the grid.

  I never heard Calis’s response to my comment. But I imagine–in my mind–that he already took care of business and left.

  I was that out of it.

  So I did the next best thing that came natural. I took the old man’s advice: I slept.

  ~7~

  Three hours.

  I was out cold for three long hours.

  But I woke up later in Calis’s queen-sized bed with a cup of warm mint tea by my bedside to keep me company and the soft chimes of the overhead clock as well.

  I yawned something fierce to beat the band and then looked around me in that moment–trying to see…yep.

  There he is.

  Calis was only a few feet away from me fixing another cup of coffee when he noticed that I was awake now and moving on my own.

  “Ah. Good. You‘re up. I’m pleased.” He said with warm relief in his voice.

  Then he produced my vacuum sealed canister from behind him that contained my lunch and handed it to me.

  Followed by a plastic green spoon.

  “Eat.” He instructed lightly.

  Unscrewing the cap, I popped open the tab and peeled back the plastic lid that covered the canister. Afterwards, I dropped my spoon into the hearty and somewhat frothy mix of bean paste, lentils, and curry and started mixing things together like I always did for the past five years now.

  This is all I pretty much ate these days–when nobody was looking. Or hounding me lately for my daily calorie counts.

  Calis watched me eat for a few seconds and leaned over to get the cup of tea that sat on its own saucer and the small night stand to boot.

  “Drink.” He quietly urged of me.

  I pushed his hand away at that moment.

  “Can’t.” I told him. “If I drink something now, that means I have to pee. And I need something to eat first before doing that.”

  “Very well. Eat a little bit more than you can go use the bathroom next door.”

  “Count on it.” I said between a couple mouthfuls. I swallowed what I had in the next twenty seconds or so and got up to go use the bathroom.

  I came back five minutes later, sat back down on Calis’s bed and picked up where I left off with my lunch. Then I washed everything down with a couple healthy gulps of the tea and then sighed in response.

  “That’s much better.” I offered up with a purr of gratitude for my mentor and teacher.

  “Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  I went back to eating my lunch–making sure I got every delicious bit into my mouth, while my mentor and teacher stood there abeam of me and nursing a cup of coffee in hand.

  “So how did you do it?” I asked of Calis–once I finished halfway and sat the canister between my legs with the spoon still inside it.

  “Do what?”

  “Carry me. Nobody’s been able to do that since I was a little girl. You, my dad, Scratch on occasion…? Of course, I loved it when he carried me on his back. It was fun.”

  My teacher and mentor chuckled to himself in response. “Isis, you’ll find that people can do extraordinary things in times of emergency. You were no different.”

  “Uh-huh.” I said unconvincingly. “I find that hard to believe.”

  Calis studied me in that moment. “Would like you like to take my pulse? Feel my arms? Trust me, you’re not as heavy as you think you are.”

  “I’m a solid one-twenty.” I reminded him stubbornly.

  “Weight doesn’t have anything to do with it.” Calis countered easily. “In fact, you were pretty light in my arms while I carried you to the shed.”
>
  I knew then I wasn’t going to get the answer I wanted out of him, so I changed the subject.

  “Fine. What about the storm? How is it doing?”

  “It’s calmed down in the last hour. But it’s still pretty potent. The whole thing averaged about 950 miles in diameter. Not quite a true hurricane in the conventional sense, but a storm nonetheless.”

  I nodded. “Yes, you mentioned what a hurricane is to me a few times. You told me those kinds of storms only happen over certain conditions and over bodies of water no less.”

  My teacher and mentor was most impressed with my deft analysis. “The warmer, the better in fact.” He praised openly. “Which is good for you. You got that question wrong two months ago as I recall.”

  I sighed in mutual embarrassment. “Yeah, I got quite a few questions wrong on that test.”

  Calis turned around in that space of a moment and retrieved something from the side counter next to the coffee pot.

  “It so happens that right now, I have your geology lessons on this learning pad. I think you’re strong enough now to answer at least a few questions on it while you sit there.”

  My eyes practically screwed themselves shut upon hearing that bit of unwelcome news.

  “Old man…I’m not even awake yet. Coherent yet. And you want me to do my home studies now?”

  “The sooner the better. I can transmit the remainder home tonight before you go back.” Calis told me up front. Studying me a little further, he added: “Look, it’s not as hard as some of your other subjects. You just struggle with some of the basics and that’s perfectly normal. It’s all part of the learning process.”

  “Says you.” I retaliated unhappily.

  My teacher and mentor sighed. “Okay. I understand you’re not happy. But let me ask you something in return. And I want your complete honesty.”

  “Sure. Shoot.” I said with great reluctance. Calis could see my tense body posture in action. Not the fact that I fidgeted a lot when being confronted with something equally important.

  So he decided to put my mind at ease by giving me a simple test.

  “Say you were given a great responsibility in life, Isis. Something so unique and powerful and awe inspiring. How would you be able to handle it with your currently limited skill set and average intelligence?”

  “The question is completely irrelevant since nothing like what you’re actually suggesting even exists. And secondly…? Are you saying that I’m stupid?”

  “Not entirely, no.” The old man answered with equal honestly. “But as I’ve pointed out earlier, you are lacking in some critical areas. So I am wondering how you would stack up–by being given a bigger responsibility in life?”

  “If I can handle getting tossed around by a storm, I think I can handle whatever you’re suggesting of me. But not the ‘I am being stupid’ part. That‘s just insulting to me personally.”

  The old man relented a bit in his criticism towards his young charge.

  “Under normal circumstances, I would agree. But what I have in mind is not normal. And I need you to be at your best. But unfortunately, I haven‘t been seeing any solid performances from you in the past few months as of late. Your attention and focus to detail among other things has been slipping a bit in recent weeks.”

  I toyed with my lunch, trying to figure out how best to respond to this latest broadside. It wasn’t that I didn’t believe my mentor or teacher, it’s just that he had a unique way of doing things that most people in life (in general) would never give a real second thought towards doing themselves.

  “It’s been…” I started out slowly. “I’ve just had a rough couple of months, Calis. Things haven’t been as easy as I would like them to be.”

  My mentor and teacher nodded in both sympathy and personal understanding.

  “That’s part of growing up, Isis. Life isn’t going to be cutting you any slack when it comes down to it. So I’m just wondering if–and when–you’ll finally be ready for that big responsibility–should it ever come?”

  I sighed heavily. “I can’t say for sure. But I do know that I’ll never be ready unless I try, old man.” I replied with blunt, straight faced honesty.

  “At least…that’s what my dad always said when I was little and facing many of life’s challenges head on.”

  Calis smiled a bit in acknowledgment of that well known truth.

  “And Kelin would be right. But there’s always been a right way of doing things and a wrong way as well. And thus far, you’ve been leaning towards the latter on occasion than the former.”

  I sat back up against the headboard and thought that one over.

  “Sometimes–I’ve been finding out mind you–that being wrong and doing things wrong can lead to different and unexpected results than following the status quo.”

  Calis held no argument there.

  “And that’s why you’ve been struggling as of late.” He calmly pointed out for me.

  “But I’m not here to continue riding you for past mistakes. It seems that I no longer have that luxury anymore–given some new developments on my end.”

  I perked up upon hearing that bit of good news.

  “So you’re given me a free pass then?”

  My teacher and mentor nodded slowly. “On this issue? Yes. But it doesn’t change the fact that I want you to try harder and stay focused on your studies more.”

  “I’m going to try, old man.” I said with growing confidence under my belt.

  “I just need to find a workable method. That’s all.”

  “What were wrong with the ones I’ve been giving you?”

  I shrugged innocently. “They’re just…I dunno. Tedious. If that’s the right word for what I’m thinking at this moment.”

  “That’s why it’s called learning, Isis. You can’t learn through one skill set alone. You have to be repetitive until it sticks.”

  “Yeah, but sometimes, you haven’t been either, Calis.” I pointed out to him. “I can remember a few times where you gave me two different assignments and not a whole lot of instruction to go with it. That just drove me nuts in the end.”

  Calis chuckled a bit at my statement of fact. “That’s because I was trying to see if you could learn how to function on an independent level.”

  Then he turned serious a moment later.

  “Isis…there’s going to come a day when you will have no one to rely on but yourself. I’m sure that Maye has told you this many times over the past years–especially now that you’re growing up and becoming much older and wiser.”

  I coughed a couple of times in response–not sure if the wiser part actually meant anything to me personally. I just didn’t feel like I was wise because I felt insecure and unsure of myself and sometimes, of my abilities at times too.

  Sure, there were still some things I was really good at in life, but others…? Not so much.

  “I’ve…been told a lot of things over my short life, old man. First, from mom. Then dad, then you. Then Scratch, then a few other people I know through personal association, there was Cara Hastings–my childhood friend before she disappeared–then it was Beryl Johnson at the 24-7 Bar and Grill…?” I sighed heavily in return. “It just seems that everybody is trying to wear me out by filling my head with as much information as they possibly can–while giving me absolutely no time to properly assimilate or even process it.”

  Calis understood where I was coming at from that front at least. “And do you think everyone–including me–are doing these things to make you unhappy or at the least…miserable?”

  I giggled. “Can I say both?”

  “If it makes you feel better, then yes. You may.” Calis relented some on my behalf.

  I nodded with gratitude. “At least you’re not like mom. She’ll just end up giving me one of your patented life lectures. Like you’re doing now.”

  Calis took a drink from his coffee cup before setting it down.

  “But the difference between Maye and myself is that
I have a preferred method of instruction and teaching, Isis. She is just being your mom. And mothers–universally–have different approaches to life’s many problems. I do not. I can only give you the tools you’ll need to be successful in life.

  “I cannot raise you as your parents have. That’s not my life goal right now.”

  I looked at him fondly. “But you’re like the coolest dad around, old man. How can you possibly not know what it’s like to raise kids–if you’ve never been given that chance?”

  Calis was quiet for a moment. And in that moment, I could have sworn I saw some genuine sadness in his face.

  “Life was never that generous, Isis. Because of the choices I made for myself over the years, there were some things which I had to let go and never be a part of.”

  Sympathy filled me then.

  “I’m so sorry, Calis. I didn’t even know.” I responded quietly. “I always believed you had a family in the past. Children as well. But you never spoke of your past as much as my father even hinted at.”

  Calis nodded despite himself. “Your father couldn’t worm the information out of me either–though he never stopped trying.”

  “Because it was too painful a subject?” I pressed gently.

  My mentor and teacher shook his head. “It’s more difficult and complex than you realize, Isis McGowan. And unfortunately, I don’t have the time to fill you in on the finer details of it. Because believe it or not, I have something I need to ask of you.”

  I nodded, knowing what kind of a personal sacrifice Calis was asking of me. Not too mention that measure of confidentiality or trust.

  “Go ahead. I’m all ears.” I told him emphatically. “What is it?”

  Calis studied me for a moment, then said: “I need you to run a special errand for me.”

  ~8~

  “Errand. Got it.” I ticked off with budding enthusiasm. “That’s it? Just an errand?”

  Calis was taken aback by my fires of youth and brash impetuousness.

  He laughed a little bit at my lack of scope or basic understanding of the request he was making of me at this very moment.

  “Isis…” he murmured. “It’s much more than that.”