by M. A. George
CHAPTER 22
I knew there was no point in trying to persuade my father to come with us. He had never lost an argument he felt strongly about. I clasped his hand in mine, looking into his wise and weary eyes. “Are you really going to let me go?” I asked warily.
“You have long ago outgrown the need for my authorization,” he replied with a shrewd look.
“I’m well aware of that,” I shook my head. “What I meant was…Are you going to try to convince me to stay?” We both knew if he really wanted to, he could succeed.
“If you love him,” he said decisively, “you must go with him. I will not be here forever to need your attention, my dear. Truth be told, I wish your sister would go with you,” he mused. “You girls belong together.”
“We would never leave you here alone,” I protested. “Aren’t you concerned about the danger? Onontí is at war.”
“Clearly Earth isn’t immune from that danger,” he reminded me. “At least there you’ll be under imperial protection.” He sighed as he reached up to pat my cheek. “I’ve had more years of being the only man in your life than any father could expect. I can’t let my selfish need to keep you near ruin your chance of happiness.” He smiled sadly.
I tried to hold back my tears as I moved over to give him a hug. It was impossible to believe that it would be one of our last.
He kissed me on the cheek, then cleared his throat. “I wish I could say I’m not sleepy…” He tried to keep his voice cheerful. “But I’m utterly exhausted.” He let out a big yawn to prove it.
It was obvious he was trying to put up an appearance of acceptance—even peace with my impending departure. I decided to let him have his way. I walked him upstairs to his room and paused to give him one last kiss on the cheek. “I’ll miss you, Father…” I choked back a sob.
“Not as much as I will miss you, my love,” he smiled with a wink. “But you have no idea how much it will comfort me to know that you are happy.” With that, he turned and shuffled into his bedroom, closing the door softly behind him.
I made it to the car before the tears flowed uncontrollably. It was ridiculous to be older than any human on the planet and still have a need for my Daddy. But it almost made it harder that we had shared so many years together.
When I arrived back at Sabela’s house, I was still tearful—though I’d managed to get control of the hysterical sobbing. Aeron met me at the door. I fell into his arms as he hugged me silently and waited patiently for me to get control of myself.
“I’m sorry…” I looked up to wipe the tears from my cheeks. “I’m usually not so melodramatic.”
“Was he angry with you?” He speculated. “Or with me?” His expression was remorseful.
“No,” I reassured him. “He wasn’t angry at all…He’s amazingly at ease with my leaving.”
Aeron’s expression turned bewildered.
“We had a great talk,” I explained. “He told me everything.” I gave him a meaningful look to indicate that my father really did reveal all. “It wasn’t until I had to tell him goodbye that the water works started,” I sniffled, disgusted with myself for being so childish.
“Palta,” he tried to soothe me. “If you are having doubts about your decision…”
“What?” I was ashamed of myself for giving him such a ludicrous impression. “You think I’m regretting choosing you?”
“I would understand, Palta.” He looked at me reassuringly. “It would be heartbreaking…but I would understand.” His voice trailed off as he reached up to wipe another tear from my cheek.
“Let’s get this straight right now…” My tone turned authoritative. “I have been stubborn for one hundred and seventeen years, and that’s not going to change now. Once I’ve made a decision, I hold to it.” I hugged him tightly, mumbling over his shoulder, “I’m afraid you’re stuck with me.”
He exhaled softly as he buried his face in my hair. “Is it selfish that I am extremely relieved?” he whispered. I shook my head gently without speaking, still hugging him tightly. “Good…” He breathed in the scent of my hair. “I can’t imagine my future without you.”
“I just hope we both have a future,” I sighed. “I’m beginning to despair that the chances are slim.”
He raised his head, locking his eyes on mine. “You will have a future, Palta,” he insisted firmly. “If they get to me before I can destroy the weapon, you run like hell. Even if the worst happens and it goes airborne, you can survive.”
“You think the virus going airborne is the worst that could happen?” I looked up at him incredulously. “That may be the worst for humankind, but for me personally—it couldn’t get any worse than losing the people I love…any worse than losing you.” I put my head back down on his shoulder as I hugged him more tightly. He wrapped his arms securely around me, pressing his lips against the side of my head.
After a prolonged silence, I involuntarily let out a yawn. “Let me take you home,” he encouraged softly. I tried to make an objection, but he shook his head. “It’s your last night there…I won’t steal that from you.”
I wanted to say it didn’t matter, but the thought of leaving Earth without at least seeing my comfort zone one last time was admittedly daunting. I reluctantly trudged toward my car, handing him the keys to drive. I felt pathetic being so visibly exhausted, knowing he had probably missed out on more sleep than I had lately. But try as I might, I couldn’t suppress another yawn.
As Aeron pulled into my garage, my head bobbed forward from the overpowering drowsiness. He walked around and scooped me out of the passenger seat into his arms, following my garbled directions to my bedroom upstairs. He laid me down on the bed, pulled off my shoes, and covered me with the blanket. As he bent forward to kiss my forehead and whisper a goodbye, I pried my eyelids open. “Don’t leave me,” I muttered indistinctly, placing my hand on his. He sat down on the side of the bed, stroking my hair as he kept hold of my hand.
I fought the overwhelming urge to fall asleep just long enough to slide over toward the center of the bed, holding up the corner of the blanket to indicate that he should lay down too. He complied, kicking his own shoes off and leaning backward to rest his head on the pillow next to me. I pulled the blanket across his body, positioning my head on his shoulder and resting my hand on his chest. He reached up to squeeze my hand, and I kissed his cheek softly. My eyelids grew unbearably heavy, and I surrendered to slumber.
We awakened to the ringtone of Aeron’s cell phone just after eight in the morning. It was Ewenami calling. In her defense, she wasn’t snooping. We were supposed to be up well before then…It would be time to go in a matter of hours.
I rubbed my eyes, wishing we could sleep a little longer. As my mind slowly came into focus, reality sunk in…I was really saying goodbye to everything today. I sat up on the side of the bed next to Aeron, staring blankly at the wall in front of me. He was telling Ewenami that he would be on his way over shortly.
As he hung up the phone, he reached to take hold of my hand. “Why don’t you take a little time to put your things together,” he suggested thoughtfully. “Come over when you’re ready.”
It occurred to me that I had no idea what—or how much—I should pack. “Will there be much room on the ship for personal belongings?” I asked.
“Yes, there should be plenty of room for you to bring whatever you think you need,” he assured me.
Suddenly a torrent of questions flooded through my brain. I started firing them off in rapid succession, not even giving Aeron a chance to answer. “How long will the flight take?…Do we have enough food?…Is there a bathroom?…What about a shower?…Or a washing machine?…Are there beds, or do we have to sleep sitting up?”
When I was forced to break the stream of consciousness to take a breath, Aeron seized the opportunity to make an attempt at answering. “It will take about three months…And you will not have to starve, live in squalor, or s
leep strapped in your seat,” he teased.
“I’m sorry if my questions are idiotic and self-absorbed,” I apologized. “I’ve just had so many other things on my mind, I hadn’t considered the logistics of the flight. I’ve always pictured my father’s ship as being just a step above the space shuttle. Now it occurs to me that it wouldn’t be very conducive to comfortable living on a long-distance flight.” I gave him an embarrassed look as I confessed, “I wish I could say I’m low maintenance, but I like some of the finer things in life…like a toothbrush.”
He chuckled. “I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the living conditions. It’s a substantial improvement on the space shuttle.”
“Well, what did you expect me to think?” I defended myself. “It’s the one and only design for a spaceship to come out of Onontí—and it hasn’t been improved upon in over a hundred years…”
He nodded in acknowledgment that I had a point. “I can see why you would be skeptical,” he conceded. “You seem to be under the misguided impression that Onontí had no experience with space travel prior to your father’s flight.”
I started to justify my thoughts, but he calmly requested that I give him a chance to explain. “You are correct that your father’s ship was the first to be capable of faster-than-light travel,” he clarified. “But there have been many ships capable of shorter-distance travel since long before his. Onontí is a small planet, but it is significantly more technologically advanced than Earth. There are quite a few surrounding colonies—envision a network of massive space stations—with transport ships going back and forth on a daily basis. Space travel is not at all a rarity for Onontians…But faster-than-light travel is quite a bit more complicated.”
Understanding registered on my face as I grasped what he was saying. “So my father’s ship was just a modified version of the type already used for more local travel?”
He nodded in confirmation. “There have been some advancements over the intervening years, but for the most part his ship’s design is still quite sophisticated—definitely eons ahead of anything you’re used to seeing.”
“Who knew?” I mused. “I’ve had a lifetime of mental images that are completely off base. I suppose I am in for a surprise. I can’t wait to see it all…”
He smiled as he kissed my cheek. “I can’t wait to show you,” he said cheerfully, his eyes sparkling with excitement. “So we better get a move on…”
“Aye aye,” I made a mini salute. “I’m starting with a shower…just in case.”
He shook his head with an amused smile as he turned to head for the door. “I’ll see you in a bit…Just give me a call if you need help loading your things in the car.”
I headed for the shower, trying to move quickly. It would take me a while to decide what exactly warranted packing. Once I was dressed and ready, I went down to the kitchen to grab a quick breakfast. Between bites, I darted around grabbing assorted items to toss into suitcases and boxes.
Some things were easy—clothes, toiletries, treasured family pictures. Others posed unexpected challenges. I wondered if my blow dryer would be of much use without a proper outlet. Similarly, my DVD collection would probably be useless. Somehow that didn’t stop me from grabbing some of my favorite titles. I threw in several of my favorite books as well. I decided to pack my laptop…Surely there would be some way to power it—and if nothing else, it would be good for playing movies. As the thought occurred to me, I tossed in a few more DVDs.
Finally, I rummaged in the back of my closet to extricate a small wooden box, about the size of a shoebox. Locked within was the only weapon I owned. My father was adamant that I needed some means of protecting myself…He is not a violent man, and to my knowledge he had brought no weapons to speak of from Onontí. But when I moved into my own house, he insisted on giving me this small semiautomatic handgun. I bring it out about once a year to make sure it is still in working order. Otherwise, I have never had occasion to even think of using it. I double checked it was loaded, then snapped the case shut and placed it carefully in one of the moving boxes.
As I reached the end of my mental packing list, I paused to take one last look around. The house still looked much the same—all of the furniture still in its place, as though I had just packed for a short vacation. Somehow it was comforting to think of it that way—like it would still be there waiting for me if I ever returned.