The Turret: Starclan Foundation

by James McAlliater

  “I’ve known about it since your first trip.” Sandy curled a lock of Jock’s hair with her finger as she spoke.

  “It doesn’t upset you?”

  “Jock, you loved her. I know that. I know you love me, too.” Sandy dropped her eyes to smile at the proof of her statement. “And Jack. And Mary. And Corrine. And Alistair. And Alexander. And Allison. You give Earth, and everyone here, most of yourself, you time, your entire life almost. You give me, you give us, everything you have left until this is done. Then we, I will get you all to myself.” Sandy leaned in and kissed Jock again. He moaned a little when she broke the kiss. “I can give Sharon’s memory one day a year. Because it means so much to you, it means a lot to me. Because you need to go. So, go, my darling. But not tonight; tonight I need you to show me how much you love me!”

  Sandy leaned in again and Jock pulled her to him. This time when the kiss broke she moaned. Neither of them worried about the spilled wine.

  ***

  Chrysler Building

  55th Floor

  New York City

  Standard Earth Date May 20, 3466

  “Mr. Trap will see you now.” The Bronx twang of the receptionist drifted to the dark clad figure seated on the bench opposite her desk.

  The figure rose, and walked silently past the receptionist and into the huge office.

  “Hello, Mr.…?” Dennis Trap stood and walked to the figure with outstretched hand.

  “My name is unimportant. You may call me Elathan if you feel the need to label me. You are nearing retirement, yes?” The heavily accented Celtic voice reminded Dennis of the sounds made when scraping hides to make leather.

  “Aye, and I’ve been told you can help with that?” Dennis looked up and down this figure dressed in black pants, a charcoal grey turtleneck, a loose-fitting black jacket, and a large black Panama hat. Dennis couldn’t make out the features of the figure’s face, only that there were dark glasses under the hat’s shadow somewhere. He shivered as he suddenly felt a chill. Did someone lower the thermostat in here?

  “I can…facilitate a useful transition for you. Aye.”

  “I see…May I get you something?”

  “Yes, you will.”

  “Okay, well, eh, have a seat and fire away! Name your poison.”

  “Let me share this apple with you.” Elathan hissed.

  ***

  West Lake Road

  Skaneateles, NY

  Standard Earth Date June 25 3466

  “Mom, I need to talk to you.” Jack MacAlister leaned against the doorjamb of his parent’s bedroom, staring at his shoes.

  “What is it, honey. Is everything Okay?” Sandy looked up from folding clothes, a little alarmed at the serious tone of her son’s voice. How grown up he looks, so handsome!

  “Mom, I’m worried. I, I think Dad is cheating on you. I think he has another woman at the Academy.” Jack choked on the words. “When I was in Dad’s hotel room, I saw flowers, and a card. Her name is Sharon.”

  Sandy gave her oldest a faint smile as she walked over and placed a hand on each of his shoulders. “Jack, ask your father about this. It is time you two talked about it. It’s important to both of you. He’ll be home soon. You wait for him in the study, and I’ll send him in. And stop worrying; it is NOT anything like what you fear.” She reached up and cupped his face with her right hand and kissed his forehead. “Now, relax.”

  Jack was very confused. Mom seemed unconcerned with what he had said, and that confused him even more.

  “I never worry about your father doing anything like that. Jack, since the moment I first met him, I have known exactly what he was thinking. I can’t explain it, it only happens with him; all I have to do is think of him, and I know his thoughts, and also what is much, much deeper inside him. And sometimes I see what is going to happen, in a general way, around him. So, I never worry about him that way. Now, go into the study and relax.” The tall Space Force Cadet walked to the study to wait. This is just too bazaar.

  A few minutes later he heard his father come home. He heard him talking to his mother. They aren’t yelling, that’s good, but Dad sounds upset. I wish I could hear…

  The door to the study opened. Jock stepped inside, and closed the door behind him without looking at Jack. He walked over to the cabinet behind the desk, unlocked it and took out a bottle of 25-year old Glenfiddich and two whiskey glasses. He poured a dram in each and carried them over to the couch Jack sat on, holding one glass out to his son while he sat down next to him. He looked at Jack for the first time since he entered the room. Jack was surprised by the look in his father’s eyes.

  “Take it, Jack. Sip it. Savor the tastes, try to separate them in your mind, and think about how they fit together. Life itself is distilled in a glass of good Scotch.” Jock took a sip of the amber liquid, savoring the comfortable smoothness of the heat sliding down his throat, the familiar warmth spreading throughout his chest.

  Jack looked at the whiskey glass as he took it from his father. Another strange ritual I have to ‘experience’ before he’ll explain anything to me, Jack thought. Okay, I’ll give him this. But the explanation better not be anything freaky.

  Jack took a small sip. The texture of the golden liquid was surprisingly thick, almost like olive oil. The whiskey burned Jack’s tongue even as he tasted honey, caramel, vanilla, and something else he couldn’t quite define. The gentle burn on his tongue and down his throat spread out into a warmth that lingered a bit before fading with the flavors. Jack looked up and turned to face his Dad. He started to tell his dad about what he had seen, but Jock raised a hand to delay him.

  “Jack, I have to tell you about your birth mother,” Jock began. “First, I have to tell you about my father’s death.

  “Your Grandfather was a brilliant engineer, a talented physicist. He invented the gravitic propulsion systems we’re installing on those ships up there,” Jock raised his glass as if to point, then took another sip before continuing, “He was on assignment, working for General Aerospace Developments on the drives, when the lab exploded and he was killed. The Marine Guard came and told me ten days before I was to leave for the Academy.

  “Jack, my father was my best friend, my best teacher, my idol. Everything I wish I could have been for you. These preparations for the Bugs, the alien invasion, have taken me from you, and I’m sorry about that.

  “Your adoptive mother, Sandy, was my high school sweetheart. We had hinted at marriage to each other, I sort of assumed it would happen. She seemed to know it would. When they told me my Dad had died, I shut them all…” Jock took another sip, “I shut them all out. My friends, Sandy. Everyone except Mom. But she was too crushed to help me deal with it. My friends let me be alone; they wanted to help, but I wouldn’t let them. Then, before I knew it, I had to leave for the Academy.

  “The first day, I met Angie, Pat, and Sharon.” Jock took another small sip of Scotch.

  Jacks eye widened at the name, and this time he sipped his whiskey along with his father. That’s the name. Is she there now, waiting for him? He’s never talked with me like this before. This is hard for him. But he’d better not be cheating on Mom.

  “The three of them made me forget about losing Dad. It was like entering another world, leaving all that pain behind, pretending it never happened. The four of us did everything together. Pat kept hitting on Sharon, Angie kept hitting on me, all in a half joking, kidding kind of dance. Then Mom died. And I shut everyone out, Sandy, Don, Aggie, Sharon, Pat and Angie. They all wanted to comfort me, but I denied them that closeness. As for my friends here, I was so ashamed about not contacting them that I wouldn’t contact them after my mom died. Before I knew it, I had graduated. The day after, my USF friends and I had received our assignments. The four of us went to dinner together, then we each got this,” Jock pulled his polo shirt off and turned his right shoulder towards his now wide-eyed son.

  “Pat and Angie went off together, to plan their future. I asked Sharon to marry me, and
she said yes. We walked around the campus, not really paying attention to where we were going. We ended up in front of the chapel, and we went in.

  “My flight was the first to leave the next morning. The four of us went together. I was waving good-bye…” Jock finished his Scotch and stood up. Jack downed his fast to catch up to his Dad, and winced at the burn. Jock walked to the cabinet and stood with his back to Jack, pouring a second dram.

  “They were hit by a bus as I waved to them. I couldn’t stop the tram, or even go back. I couldn’t even call from the ship or the lunar base, too classified. My LC helped. A lot.” Jock walked back and sat beside his son, handing him the whiskey as he sipped the Scotch. Jack followed suit as he watched a tear roll down his father’s cheek.

  I’ve never seen Dad cry. He’s always been so strong, like a rock, except with Mom.

  “The turret I was stationed on was a two-person rig. The other operator was already there, halfway through her shift. Her name was Shannon Malone. Jack, she was Sharon’s twin sister.” Jock downed the rest of the Scotch, but couldn’t feel the burn or taste the sweetness it carried.

  Jack took a small sip. How do you deal with that? This hurts him. A lot.

  “Shannon helped me finish the development of the gravitic drives. And…” Jock set his empty glass down looked into his son’s eyes.

  “Shannon proved to me that my father was murdered. And she proved that the bus that killed her sister and my friends was meant for me. Then she took me to her bed. I was dazed, half numb. She revived me, made me start to live again.

  “Jack, Shannon Malone was your birth mother.”

  Jack stared at his father for thirty seconds.

  “Dad, where is she?”

  “She went into the intelligence service when she returned from the Turret. After you were born, she brought you to Don and Aggie, to keep for Sandy to take care of. Like she knew we would end up together. Then she went off mission; she went after the one who killed my father and her sister. She found him, and she killed him. It was her father. She died with him.”

  Jack downed the Scotch in his glass. It could not penetrate the numbness, the confusion of the weird story he’d just heard. How do I deal with this?

  “Jack, talk to me, tell me how you feel. Don’t shut me out like I shut out my friends.”

  “Dad, I, I don’t know what to say, what I’m supposed to say. I mean, I don’t know…”

  “I came back and found Sandy here, waiting for me. She waited all that time, without ever hearing from me. She showed me you, and told me that she loved you, because you were a part of me. I can’t imagine why, Jack, but she still loves me. And she loves you.”

  “I know she does, Dad. Too much, sometimes, I think. Dad, how do you deal with all of this?”

  “Jack, at first I dealt with it by withdrawing. Don’t do that; it’s more painful, and it just draws out the sorrow and emptiness. Let your loved ones share your pain, they can lessen it a lot. Your pain, it’s a part of you. When you share it, the good memories become stronger.”

  “So, what’s with the flowers and the card?” Jack’s eyes drifted to the tattoo on his father’s shoulder again.

  “I should have let her into my life sooner, Jack. With Sandy, I was lucky. I got another chance. With Sharon, I didn’t. So, I do what I can to remind myself, every year on the night after graduation, where we promised each other before God. It’s not much, but I need to do it.” Jock leaned towards his son, “Don’t wait, and don’t shut out the people who love you.”

  “Dad, what was my birth mother like?”

  “Jack, Shannon Malone was a smart, and unique lady…” Jock smiled as he refilled their dram glasses with the fine single malt. He handed the glass to Jack, and then pressed a button on his desk. A soft, nasal wail came out of the speaker system:

  D’ya hear that lonesome whip-poor-will

  he sounds too blue to fly.

  The midnight train is whining low.

  I’m so lonesome I could cry…

  ***

  Chrysler Building

  55th Floor

  New York City

  Standard Earth Date November 26, 3466

  Dennis Trap looked around the huge room. He walked over to the thermostat and checked it again. Eighty five and it’s still cold in here. It’s been cold in here for six months. What the hell am I doing?

  “The papers are ready, Mr. Trap.” The nasal twang of his receptionist’s Bronx accent only irritated him more. And he’d been in a constant state of irritation lately.

  The receptionist’s overdone hip sway as she left the office was absurd, Dennis thought. Much better to have Sally. He looked down at the documents that Elathan had said would save Jock. It didn’t make sense!

  If I sign this, Jock is locked out of Gravitas and General Aerospace. Elathan will be the richest man on Earth, and I’ll be the most tortured. Jock’s left me no choice. The fool! Leaving Gravitas, and General Aerospace vulnerable like this! The only way to save him is to sign! Thanks be to that son of a bitch Elathan!

  Shivering, Dennis picked up the pen, and began writing on the papers. He initialed and dated each page of the document that would transfer all of General Aerospace Developments and Gravitas Propulsion to Elathan. He signed his name at the bottom of the last page, just above where his receptionist had signed as a witness.

  Dennis placed the pen back into its holder, pushed his chair back from the desk, and stood up.

  So cold!

  He turned and walked over to the center of the long wall of windows. He reached up with his left hand and touched the frame. He was gazing out across Manhattan when he felt the bloodlessly cold fingers inside his chest, moving through his very core as if searching for something. They wandered around in his chest, burning him with their frigid touch, until they reached their beating goal. The inhumanly cold, dark fingers froze his breath, his soul as they closed ever more tightly upon his heart. Then Dennis saw, for that fleeting moment that his life remained, the truth of what he had just been tricked into doing; by signing the papers, he had ripped the companies from his friend as these frigid fingers now ripped his life, his heart, his soul from him. Dennis’ mouth opened in silent agony as he fell to the polished floor, his now hollow body quivered a brief, feeble protest against its emptiness.

  ***

  Mars L-2

  J. Wadsworth R & D Station

  Commander’s Quarters

  Standard Earth Date December 23, 3466

  “We’ve run autopsies and tox screens. There is nothing there. It was a heart attack, simple as that.” Ronald Sims’ face and voice explained over the comm. Sandy sat behind him and off to one side, eyes red and tired.

  “I’m sorry, Jock. But, it’s all gone. Dennis signed the companies away just before he died. Everything he was in charge of is gone.

  “So, what’s left, Ron?” Jock asked.

  “Well, there’s the StarClan Engineering firm. That’s still there. Of course, they can’t use any of Gravitas’ patents. The physical equipment and name of Gravitas Propulsion are for sale. It looks like they only wanted the intellectual property and the patent infringement agreement.”

  “Yeah, property from the minds of my father, Shannon Malone, and me. Okay, Ron,” Jock let out a huge breath he didn’t remember taking in, “buy everything of Gravitas that’s for sale. Those employees didn’t ask for pink slips. We’ll take care of them. We’ll keep StarClan separate. I want it in a trust for the family, managed by your law firm.” Jock looked at Sandy’s smile and returned it.

  “Jock, that will stretch you a lot more than just a little thin. Are you sure?”

  “Ron, USF will need someone to handle everything General Aerospace can’t. That will be Gravitas Propulsion. Make it happen.”

  ***

  United Space Force Academy

  United Space Force Academy Hilton

  Cape Canaveral, Florida

  Standard Earth Date June 15 3470

  Jack MacA
lister knocked on the hotel room door. He absentmindedly rubbed the dull ache in his right shoulder through his Dress Whites as he waited for the answer. He was a little tired after graduation, and all the activities after. There was one more he was participating in, but something he had to do first. After a few seconds the door opened.

  “Jack! Come on in.”

  “We have to hurry, Dad. There is, well, something extra this time.” Jack said as he walked into the hotel room. As he entered the room, he stopped in the doorway, holding open the door.

  “Dad, there’s someone I want you to meet.”

  Jock smiled before he turned around. At six feet, four inches, Jack stood two inches taller than his dad, and just as well muscled; sliding out from behind his son was the smallest set of dress whites Jock had ever seen. His eyes swept over the four-foot, ten-inch cadet, taking in the long jet-black hair, the dark olive skin, her full lips and perfect nose before settling on her fiery green eyes. There was something there that broadened Jock’s grin into a full-blown smile.

  “You must be Kesa. I am so happy to meet you. Jack has told us nothing about you!”

  “Dad!” Jack laughed, “Please!”

  “I am honored to meet you, Captain MacAlister! Jack has told me so much about you, even if he has kept my existence secret from you!” The small cadet’s voice carried immense confidence.

  “Dad, Kesa is first in her class in GPA, including graduate physics and thermodynamics.” Jack beamed his pride.

  “I see. So, that is the most important thing about Kesa you want to tell me, that she is hard-working and smart?” Jock was enjoying setting Jack up, wondering if Kesa would catch on.

  “Well, no, Dad. The most important thing about her is that I love her.”

  Jock walked up to Jack and grabbed his son in a big hug.