by J. Naomi Ay
"No." Thad shook his head wildly and then rolled his eyes while holding his sore cheek. "I mean yes. He just thought you might like to talk to me. Is there a message I should give him? He's sitting right here."
"Tell him, I want him to go back to Rozari to collect Shelly and Admiral Tim. The Admiral is to be evaluated at the medical centre here, and we will all decide together his next course of treatment."
"No!" Thad tried to yell, but it caused too much pain.
"Tell him, it's a command," Katie said. "He is to leave right away. I'll return to Mishnah in a few days, and I expect them all to be here."
"No, no, no," Thad mumbled.
"Would it be alright if I came?" I impulsively asked. It had been years since I left Derius. "I'd love to visit Mishnah again."
"Sure," Katie replied. "In fact, you might want to meet me in Farku. Uncle Tuman is ill. Weren't you good friends for a while? I bet he'd love to see you, especially if he's stuck in a hospital for very long. Come on Thad's plane and make sure he fetches Shelly and Tim first."
"I will." I smiled at Thad who looked even more pained. "See you soon, Goldie." Then I hung up the cell and went to pack a few things.
A short time later, maybe an hour or so, we were on an SdK spaceplane en route to Rozari. Thad was asleep in his suite. I had to give him some ibuprofen after all. In fact, he requested codeine which totally knocked him out.
I was in the lounge staring at the dinner menu trying to decide between eggplant parmesan, or a tofu burger with Swiss cheese. I already ordered goat cheese on crostini appetizers and a bottle of Chardonnay. Janet always preferred Merlot as she preferred red over white, so we tended to compromise on a pink Zinfandel.
I had just opened the bottle and was sniffing the essence, swirling it in my glass and then letting it soak into my tongue when suddenly it hit me as we soared across space. Thad and I left Derius so quickly, I had forgotten Janet was still in jail.
Chapter 18
Pedah
I was in this waiting room with my dad. My mom and sister-moms, and all my brothers and sisters had been here for a while already. By the time I showed up, they had gone to their hotel to sleep. Only my dad was staying overnight, and he looked like a total wreck with huge dark circles under his eyes and his hair hanging into his face. He hadn't shaved in a couple days, and I was surprised that his beard was all gray. He probably was surprised by that too. My dad had always acted like he was still this young stud.
When I first walked in, he didn't say anything, so I wondered if he forgot who I was. One of my brothers used to say that he should have had our names tattooed on our foreheads or at least we should have worn some kind of number on our sleeve. Number Seventeen, that was me.
"Pedah," he said after about five minutes of staring at me. "Thank you for coming, Son. I'm sure your grandfather will appreciate it."
"Sure, Dad. No problem." I sat down in the chair next to him and put my hands between my knees waiting for him to tell me why we were sitting out here instead of in the room with Gramps."
"They're doing a procedure for a few moments," Dad said getting up to look out the window at the courtyard below.
There were a few straggly trees, their leaves bending downward as the rain fell on them. Across the street were some office buildings with coffee shops and restaurants on the first floor. There were lots of people going in and out. It seemed strange that the whole world was moving forward, going about with their business and living, while we were suspended in time here.
About twenty minutes later, a nurse came and told us the procedure was finished.
"Did you find out anything?" Dad asked.
"No, sir," the nurse replied. "We were just adjusting his position."
"What does that mean?" I said, following my dad into Gramp's room.
He was lying there on the hospital bed hooked up to all sorts of machines. He had tubes in his mouth and attached to his arms and chest. He even had these weird socks that kept inflating and deflating. Each time they did it was like somebody exhaling loudly. He didn't look like himself. In fact, he didn't look like anybody. He was just a body that could have been my Grandpa Tuman or maybe somebody else.
I felt like crying. Maybe I even did cry for a little bit. This wasn't how my Grandpa was supposed to be. He was always so big and strong. He could shoe a horse or hoe a field. He could fix just about anything that broke. He also knew everything there was to know about Karupatani, and he kept the Temple lamps lit.
"It's alright, son," Dad said patting me awkwardly on the back. It didn't seem alright to me. In fact, it seemed totally wrong, and all I wanted to do was leave. "Go speak to him."
I went up to the bed, but I didn’t touch Gramp's hand. I was afraid it would be cold and dead feeling just like it looked. I wanted to say something, but I figured anything I would say would sound stupid. He wasn't actually listening anyway.
"Go on," my father urged so after standing there for a few minutes, I just said, "Hey Gramps. It's me, Number Seventeen. Try to get better."
I was going to leave after that. I told my dad I needed to get back to school. He thanked me for coming, which also seemed kind of ridiculous. As I walked out Gramp's room into the hospital corridor, a whole bunch of people arrived and in the middle of them was the Empress. She saw me and came right up to me.
"You're Pedah, aren't you?" she said. "How's Tuman doing?"
I just shrugged. She was going to see for herself. She smiled really sympathetically, and her eyes were full of tears. I knew she liked my Gramps. They had some kind of history on some other planet but not a "history" kind of history. They were just really good friends.
My dad saw the Empress just then and came out of Gramp's room. They hugged each other and cried together a little, even though everybody knew the Empress couldn’t stand my dad.
I hung around for a little while longer. I kind of hoped the Empress could make Gramps wake up. I bet the Emperor could do it, but Dad had said he was nowhere around.
After a while, Grandma came back from her hotel to sit some more, so the Empress decided to leave then. I had been in the waiting room with Duchess Korelesk, who was showing me pictures of all her grandchildren, although I didn't really care. They were just a bunch of little dude and dudette princes and princesses who I never met and probably never would.
"Do you need a ride somewhere, young man?" Duchess Korelesk asked just before the Empress came back. "We can take you to your university if you would prefer not to travel by bus."
"Sure." I shrugged. That would be kind of cool actually. My frat bros would go totally crazy when they saw me drive up in an Imperial limousine.
We all stood up to leave when the waiting room door burst open again, and there was my cousin, Shika all decked out in his SpaceNavy uniform. His shirt was unbuttoned, and his pants were wrinkled. Even though, his hair was way too short, it was hanging in his face. Compared to me, a guy who didn't shower but once a week, Shika looked pretty awful.
"Little Dude." He raised his hand to high five, although his eyes were blank like he couldn't remember who I was.
"Number Seventeen," I mumbled.
"Right!" He pointed at my chest. "Pedah. How's it going, bro?" Shika's breath smelled like old booze and I was an authority on that from living in a frat house. "Hey, little dude, do me an enormous favor, man. There's a chick outside in my limo. Go keep her company while I visit your gramps."
"Sure, Sir," I replied but then Duchess Korelesk interrupted.
"Pedah needs to return to his university," she said haughtily. "Her Imperial Highness and I are taking him there."
"Oh no worries, Auntie Luci." Shika waved, already heading down the hall. "I'll take the frat man home. Seventeen, which way to your old man's old man's room? I'll just drop in and say hi."
I told him the room number and pointed down the hall, while Duchess Korelesk made a bitter face and glared at the prince. Then, I quickly headed down to the parking bay before anyone could change thei
r mind. I figured that even if Shika and his girlfriend were both drunk, traveling with them would be more fun than the old ladies.
Two Imperial Limos sat right at the front entrance, both drivers standing outside their cars, chatting and smoking cigarettes.
"Who are ye?" one of them asked me with a strange Mishnese accent.
"Pedah de Kudisha," I replied and puffed up my chest a little.
"Aye, yer one of Rekah's many brats now, aren't ye? I remember the first Pedah de Kudisha. Now that was a upstanding young man."
"Come on, Reggie," the other guy said. "Give the kid a chance before you start telling him, he doesn't measure up."
"Nobody in this generation measures up, Looie," Reggie scoffed and then winked at me. "So where ye going, youngster? Ye riding with us?"
"The Prince told me to get in his car. There's a girl here I need to entertain?"
"Over here, son." Looie indicated his car and opened a rear door.
Inside a girl was curled up on the seat, her legs tucked under her body. She was leaning against a far window, probably sleeping, although her eyes opened abruptly when I came inside.
"Hey." I waved and sat across from her leaving all the rest of the space for the Imperial Prince. I introduced myself though she didn't respond, just watched me warily with her dark eyes. I don't know why but for some strange reason I started talking. I told her all about myself and my troubles. Her eyes seemed to soften, and she even sat up a little straighter, leaning forward as she listened to me. "So that's why I'm here," I concluded as the car door opened and Prince Shika stuck his head inside.
"Hey listen, little bro," he said to me and winked at the girl. "Go with June and introduce her to Berkan. June's got a meeting with the dude. You help her find his office and get her settled."
"Okay, sir. Why me?"
"Because I'm going to travel back with mom and you're the only other guy here," Shika snapped and then rolled his eyes. "She's going to yell at me the whole way and tell me what a screw-up I am. You're never too old to disappoint your parents." He made a snorting sound that was like half laughing, half crying. "At least she'll get it all out and be able to calm the Big Guy down before he starts in on me. Maybe he'll even let me live another day or two. Then, all I'll have to deal with is my wife. On the other hand, letting the Big Guy off me right now might be the best option. You kids go have fun. The bar's over there, frat boy."
He punched me in the shoulder and pointed at a console in front of the seats. I smiled at June and shrugged a little so she'd know I was as clueless about all this as she was. I had never been to the Imperial Palace and never met Lord Berkan. I had seen pictures and knew he was a huge guy with white hair.
I moved over to the other seat where Shika would have sat and opened the bar with the food and drinks.
"You want a beer?" I asked, showing her the bottles.
"No." She turned up her nose and shook her head.
"How about some chips or a sandwich? Look, here's a fruit tray and a pie." I realized I was starving from not eating since before I left school. She was hungry too and so for the rest of the flight, we ate practically everything in the car.
As soon as she had some food in her, she wanted to talk, so I brought up the universal translator app on my rPhone and listened to her speak. I heard all about her tribe, as she called them, and her life as a slave serving a master.
"Wow," I gasped, because I couldn't even imagine it. With all my troubles, here was someone who had it a thousand times worse. June was just a little thing, and she was as pretty as any sorority girl I ever met. Suddenly, I felt amazingly protective. "Hey, you don't have anything to worry about now," I told her. "You're in the Empire of Rehnor and I'm going to hang around with you as long as you need me. I'm going to be your personal guard. I'm here to help you."
I wasn't going to take advantage of her either. I wasn't that kind of guy. I was going to treat her like a lady. She looked at me like she didn't believe me, but I didn't care. She would. She'd see I could be trusted. It was like starting on the first level of Imperial Quest. I was going to save the slave princess just to prove to myself that I could.
Chapter 19
Shelly
"Where's Janet?" I asked. I was surprised to see Jerry as we walked up the steps to board the SdK spaceplane.
"Uh…well…uh…" Jerry began, and made a show of looking in the cockpit as if Janet was sitting there next to the pilots.
"Um…yeah…Janet," Thad repeated scratching at his bald spot. Half of his face was blue and yellow, and one of his eyes was nearly swollen shut. "Bar fight," he mumbled when he noticed me staring.
I shook my head and made a tsking noise. It wasn't the first time.
"Janet," I prompted again, trying to ignore my son's face. "You know, Jerry's wife? The woman I worked side by side with for more than a decade?"
"She was busy," Thad said.
"Very busy," Jerry added. I looked at them skeptically. Janet would have given her eyeteeth to visit Mishnah. What were they hiding?
"Come on, Mom." Thad put his arm across my back and ushered me into the passenger cabin while Gina guided Tim to one of the large leather chairs.
A flight attendant stood waiting with a tray of wine glasses and hors d’oeuvres. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her winking suggestively at Thad. Apparently, Gina caught that too.
"Here Tim." Gina glared at Thad and shoved Tim down into a seat, then forcefully she strapped on his seat belt.
"Thank you, Yeoman," Tim replied with a broad smile while proceeding to pinch Gina on the butt. Gina smiled indulgently, but I began to wonder how many yeomen in the past got their butts pinched or more.
Thad sat down across from Tim and next to me, his injured side plainly visible each time I glanced up. Tim didn't seem to notice anything though. The attendant put a glass of wine and some hot dogs wrapped in dough on each of our tray tables. I saw her lean way over so Thad could get a good look down her shirt. From the expression on his face, he wasn't surprised at all by this. I suspected he had seen this more than a few times before. Gina saw this too and tried to catch my eye. I just stared out the window and watched as the stars melted into blurs.
I had never been particularly close to Gina. As far as daughter-in-laws went, I didn't have anything against her. Certainly, she was better than Thad's first wife, Leslie and certainly, it wasn't my place to butt in. I just wished they'd either split or come to some kind of compromise. I was upset enough about Tim. I didn't need to deal with their bickering, fighting and excessive drinking too.
"What is this shit?" Tim muttered, picking up one of the little hot dogs.
"Wienie wrap, Admiral," Gina replied sweetly. "Would you like some mustard to go with it?"
Tim furrowed his brow and put the hot dog back down on the tray. "You're not my wife. Where's Shelly?"
Now Gina and Thad both looked out the window.
Jerry studied Tim as if he were mentally taking notes.
"Where are we going anyway?" Tim looked around the ship and patted the arm rests on his chair. "This isn't an Allied plane. I never saw one like this."
"We're going to Rehnor, Admiral," Jerry said, leaning forward to try to catch Tim's eye.
"Rehnor?" Tim scoffed. "Who the hell wants to go there? Those bloody back-assward idiots would rather spend all their time annihilating each other than join with the Alliance and become civilized."
"Yep," Thad smirked. He finished all the wienie wraps from everyone's untouched plates, and in practically two gulps, he drank both his and my glass of wine. "Those bloody Rehnorians aren't advanced at all. Some of them still live in thatch huts, wear loin cloths and ride horses. You should see their king, Dad. Man, the guy is all scarred and tattooed. He even eats live animals by pulling them apart with his fangs and his claws." Thad faked a shudder while I rolled my eyes.
"Stop it!" Gina snapped and downed her own glass of wine.
Jerry continued to study Tim, a half smile on his face.
"I'm Thad, Admiral." Thad held out his hand to shake. "I'm your oldest and favorite son. Try to remember. There's Thad, which is me." Thad pointed at his chest when Tim didn't bother to shake. "And worthless Larry who is my annoying and useless younger sibling."
"Get a job," Tim growled, "and tell your brother to quit screwing around before he flunks out of school."
"Will do, Admiral." Thad saluted. "Would you like something else to eat or drink?"
"No. I've got work to do. Where's my adjunct? Yeoman." Tim waggled his finger at Gina. "Page Cmdr. Golden. Tell her to meet me in my office at 1630 today for a briefing."
"Um, yes sir," Gina replied.
"Actually Pops, Cmdr. Golden goes by de Kudisha now," Thad chuckled and finished Tim's glass of wine. "She's also pretty busy, but maybe we can get you on her calendar."
"Oh, that's right, Golden got married to some kind of freak." Tim yawned and his eyes got very heavy. "I forgot about that. When did that happen, a couple months ago?"
"Give or take thirty-five years," Jerry remarked, and then smiled as Tim drifted off. He leaned back in his seat and pushed his glasses up his nose with his finger. "Shelly, I'd like to see Tim on a program of Lecithin, Acetyl-L-Carnitine and CoQ10. Have you tried any of that before?"
"He won't take anything these days," I said, trying to tamp down the tiny glimmer of hope that twisted in my gut. Jerry was smiling and spoke confidently. Maybe he knew something nobody else did.
"We can figure out how to sneak some of it into his food," Jerry winked. "There's no guarantee this will do anything, but it'll be a start. I've had some success with it on some other patients."
"Really?"
Jerry nodded. "I'll go with you to the SdK Medical Centre and talk to his neurologist. Perhaps together we can work out some kind of regimen. I would recommend a diet that eliminates animal fats and lactose. That alone may help to improve Tim's cognitive functions."