by Kimber An
“Ow! Will you stop screeching in my ear?” Sachi cringed.
“May I fly? Pleeeease, may I fly?”
“No, Junior.”
“But, I’m really good!”
“Maybe in the Holographic Recreational Center, but not in real life.”
“How am I supposed to get good at real life if no one ever lets me live it?” Junior slouched in her seat and folded her arms. She let her lower lip hang for maximum drama.
“I’ll help you prepare for the solo flight test, but you know it’s not going to happen until you learn self-control and focus.”
“Did you finish your homework?” Isaiah leaned forward in his seat.
Junior leaned over and rifled through her duffle bag. She handed a portable drawing board back to him. “Art was all I needed to do.”
Isaiah’s forehead furrowed. “Why do you always draw redwood trees?
“I like them.” Junior peered at the picture. “Isn’t it good?”
“Sure, it’s fine, but…” Something caught Isaiah’s eye and he pointed through the fore window. “We’re home.”
Junior saw the USS Maverick for the first time in three days.
The Maverick rose out of the starry void of space like an experienced mother eagle calling her chick under her wing. Junior couldn’t remember her ever being white. Nearly twenty years of deep space exploration had left a gray hue all over her.
Commander Jose Fernandez and his staff tended the Maverick with meticulous care. Every part still functioned perfectly, though some panels had alien technology integrated. The Intari deflector array was particularly odd with purple lights running along the leading edge of the main hull.
Junior pointed to white-suited crew floating around the port nacelle. “Jose’s got a team on the field emitters. I told him they felt a little sluggish when we came out of hyperspace last time.” The starboard nacelle looked fine, the matching wing of this great bird.
The shuttle powered around the Maverick to enter its hangar bay in the aft. The blinking landing lights were as familiar to Junior as her mother’s face. She crinkled her nose at the tingling sensation when they passed through the energy shielding. The shuttle settled down on its assigned pad next to the other one.
Mostly out of view, two arrowhead-shaped fighters rested on their own pads, on loan from the Defensive Fleet for the upcoming DMZ patrol.
Junior rushed to help with landing procedures, fingers flying. “Last week, Rehama and I rigged up the HRC so we could bring a couple fighters from our training simulation into our London Blitz game. We blasted the Luftwaffe right over Buckingham Palace and…“ A glance out the port window revealed a handsome young man standing with his mother. “Hooo…blam…he’s…hot!”
“What?” Isaiah leaned forward and peered out. “Karana…and that’s her boy, Jakoby. They’re coming with us as far as New Kenya Colony.”
Junior paused long enough to notice his expression. She could understand his blush. The hottie’s mother was gorgeous, voluptuous even, in a teal-blue dress which made the most of her ample bosom. Her many black braids streaked with silver. “Va-voom.”
Karana had generously passed her dimpled smile down to her male offspring too. What a wonderful mother. “And he’s got a nice butkis too.”
Jakoby could’ve been Isaiah’s son, judging by his melted chocolate eyes. He wasn’t and she felt Isaiah’s regret over that.
Sachi spoke up. “Never waste a second chance, Isaiah.”
“I get the one on the right.” Junior elbowed her honorary grandfather. “And you get the one on the left. C’mon!” The gangplank lowered enough for her to spring out. “Hi!” Her foot hit a grease spot, she hit the floor, and a tray of tools clattered down on top of her.
Jakoby dashed to her rescue. “Are you all right?”
The whole front of her flamed to life, hands smoothing over his chest as she rose up in his arms. “Uh-huh.” She stood at least three centimeters taller than him, but he didn’t mind at all.
Two paces away, Isaiah trembled like a schoolboy meeting his girlfriend behind the gym. “Karana…I…I mean you’re so…”
The right side of Karana’s full mouth curled. “Beautiful?”
“Yeah!” Isaiah laughed out loud. He took her hand, but forgot to shake it. Instead, he stood there holding it in both of his.
“You play rocketball?” Junior grabbed Jakoby’s hand and started dragging him away.
“Yeah. Love it.”
“Let’s go!” Junior jerked him right off his feet.
Following rocketball, lunch, the necessary food fight and requisite clean-up, Junior, Jakoby, Ret, and Rehama finished off the late afternoon snowboarding in the Holographic Recreational Center.
Normally, they would’ve all been scrubbing the magna-converters with toothbrushes for the food fight, but Sachi suspended their sentence for 24 hours. Junior, Ret, and Rehama were the only teens on board and they rarely had a guest. Besides, Junior needed an open-ended outlet for her excess energy until she went back on meds.
Late afternoon saw the friends snowboarding in a holographic Alaskan ski resort.
By early evening, Junior followed her friends back to the chalet begging to go up nosebleed hill one more time, tromping through the snow. “Oh, come on, just one more time. Losers cover classroom clean-up for the winner tomorrow.”
Grinning, Jakoby pointed a gloved thumb at her. “Is she always like this?”
“Oh, no.” Ret pulled a purple hat from his brown head. “She’s just being shy.” Green swirled up from his extra-wide mouth, causing some to believe he was tattooed. Actually, he was one-quarter Intari. “Wait until she gets to know you.”
Jakoby laughed.
“Face it,” said Rehama, black braid dangling down her back. “We’re beat.”
Ret shot a snowball at her. “Junior, you’re a freakin’ mess. Let us die in peace for once.”
“Fine. I’ll walk Jakoby to guest quarters.” Junior kicked up her snowboard and tucked it under her arm.
“Big shock there,” said Ret.
Junior grinned at Jakoby and they followed Ret and Rehama towards the chalet.
“Don’t pay attention them. We were babies together. Do you think I talk too much?”
“You can talk as much as you want. I like it.”
Rehama exchanged nauseated looks with Ret. “Like tossing gas on a fire.”
“Chef’s making banana pancakes for breakfast.” Junior ignored them and started to prattle. “Do you like banana…”
A few minutes later she and Jakoby rounded a gray corner alone.
“Of course I didn’t mean to usurp command controls.” Junior was in the middle of a story. “But, I didn’t realize I’d reprogrammed Stella – she’s the computer’s voice – to scan only my maternal DNA for biology class. So, she thought I was my mom!” Her head fell back in laughter. “Next thing I knew, smoke started rolling in and the tactical alert sirens went off and red lights started flashing.”
“Geez, you're lucky to live on a starship.” Jakoby finally got a word in edge-wise. “Planetary schools are so boring.”
“Are you taking entrance exams to United Fleet Academy?”
“Mm-hmm, exo-archaeology, Deep Space Fleet. Maybe we’ll serve on the same ship one day.”
“Crackling.” Junior paused near a closed door. “Well, here’s the guest quarters.” Sadness descended on her, but then she perked up again. “Hey, do you want me to stop by and walk you to the Mess Hall for breakfast in the morning?”
“I’d love that.” Jakoby faced her, smiling.
Something about his dimpled grin triggered an impulse and Junior flung her arms around him and kissed him full on the lips.
Jakoby didn’t mind one bit. His hands went around her waist and he kissed her right back.
No!
Junior jerked out of bliss. She saw blue eyes before her and Jakoby’s eyes were brown. Her heart galloped across her chest.
“What’s wrong?
”
“Um, I thought I heard someone scream.” Junior pressed a wall-com. “Stella, is everyone all right?”
The computer’s English accented female voice responded. “There are no reports of injury or illness among the crew, their dependents, or guests.”
Junior drew a deep breath and let it go. “I’m sorry. My head’s really been messed up these past couple of days.”
Cupping her cheek, Jakoby kissed her chin. “My mom’s the best neurologist in the quadrant. She’ll figure out what’s going on with you in the morning.”
Warmed by his smile, Junior slipped her hand into his. “Good night.”
“A very good night.” Jakoby squeezed her hand and let go.
Junior walked backwards, watching him disappear through the door. He was so cute, and such a good listener! “A rare and wonderful combination.” Just as quickly, a wave of dark feelings passed through her and she couldn’t imagine where they came from.
Into the lift she went and the door slid closed. “Home, Stella.” She folded arms and listened as the lift whirred; carrying her up a deck to the private quarters she shared with her mother.
The lift door opened and she walked out, down a door, to her own door and it slid open. She walked into the dark quarters and the lights came on automatically. The door slid closed behind her.
She could still see the eyes. Blue.
A second later, the feeling dissipated and the eyes with it.
Junior exhaled. “Music, Stella.” The tempo made her feel like she was in synch with her own body, if only for a while. “1950’s Earth.”
“Acknowledged.” The sound system crooned, All I Have to Do is Dream, by the Everly Brothers.
Olivia completed her part of the negotiations and politely declined the invitation to the subsequent banquet. That evening, the Maverick welcomed her shuttle home.
Minutes later, she strode down a bluish-gray corridor bound for her private quarters, rubbing her temples. She couldn‘t wait to strip off her uniform and slip into a bubble bath. A memory of sharing such a bath with her first husband tried to invade her thoughts. She pushed it away like so many times before.
Sachi exited a lift and fell into step with her. “Captain, I’ve given the order to get underway.”
“Already?”
“Admiral Jackson tried to pull rank to board less than ten minutes ago.” Sachi waved her hand. “A snap inspection or some other nonsense. I contacted Admiral Codetalker and he ordered us to immediate border patrol.”
Olivia studied her best friend’s tension as they strode along. “I already apologized on Junior’s behalf and no charges were filed.”
Codetalker was the one person who threatened Sachi’s resolve to stay eternally single. “Cody informed me Jackson was brought up on charges of sexual assault on Nebo Prime. The girl was only fourteen. Of course, he bribed local officials to avoid prosecution.”
“Oh, God.” Olivia’s feet dragged to a stop. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
“Jackson’s always tried to convince you to get rid of Junior. Now, all of a sudden, he wants to meet her. He asked a lot of questions about her. I think he looked up her picture on the crew manifest and saw how pretty she is.”
Olivia groaned.
“I know you hate to think about it, Olivia, but Junior’s grown into a beautiful young woman. She’s become prey.”
Olivia thrust a finger at Sachi’s nose. “My daughter is no one’s prey!”
“She still hasn’t earned her green belt in Kenpo after ten years’ training.”
Olivia dropped the finger.
“Legally, she’ll be an adult in just over two years, free to go wherever she wants. The day is fast approaching when she will leave our protection.”
Turning away, Olivia folded her arms.
“We’ve all done our best with her.” Sachi softened her tone. “She’s just too much like her father for us to handle. Edward Delano’s a powerhouse.”
“That he is.” Olivia inhaled deeply. “He certainly is.” She exhaled. “Thank you, Sachi.”
“Good night, Captain.” Sachi shifted from ‘best friend’ back to First Officer and vanished around the corner.
Olivia’s mind raced with the requisite lecture to come. She finally came to her door and stopped to study the curved frame. “What made me think I could raise a child on this damn ship anyway?” She drew breath. The door slid open. She walked in.
The thump-thump of ancient rock music struck her first thing.
Junior hung by her knees from the coolant pipes on the ceiling. With one hand she gripped the pipe and with the other she held a half-eaten banana, its peelings dangling down. And she was belting out some jungle song at the top of her range, the walls vibrating with the background music over com. Her face lit up. "Hi, Mom!"
"Stella, discontinue music."
"Unable to comply,” said Stella. “Command Authorization O’Keefe, Captain Olivia required.”
"I am Captain Olivia O’Keefe!" .
"Stella, kill the music!" Junior flipped down onto her feet.
The music stopped and Stella said, "Authorization recognized."
“Junior!” Olivia propped her hands on her hips. "I told you never to usurp my command codes again!"
"Well… it was only for music, Mom. The rest of the ship still thinks you're you.” Junior pointed at her mother's head, walking around her. "Oh, no, you did not go into the delegates' chamber like that! It looks like a cinnamon bun died on your head!”
"Will you stop?"
“Stop what?” Junior walked around her, still pointing, for the third time. "What's wrong, Mama Bear?" She shifted into fast-forward. She walked right over the back of the sofa to frenetically rearrange the vases on the shelf behind it. Then, she pushed one of the beige chairs against the wall, stepped back, glared at it, and pushed it back.
Olivia’s throat constricted. All breakable objects had been replaced with impexi-glass long ago. “Junior…” Count to ten, breathe.
From the computer desk, Junior worked her way around the room. “Whoa-hah!” She tripped over her feet after the matter re-sequencer and wiped the grandfather clock‘s face with her sleeve when she popped back up.
“Junior, stop!"
"Stop what?" Junior spun around, licked her thumb and cleaned a smudge from her mother's cheek. “Why couldn’t I have inherited your little nose? I mean, whose crazy idea was it to put this ski-jump in the middle of my face?”
"You climbed up the inside of the habitat enclosure. You might’ve been killed!
You slimed Roman Jackson. He’s an admiral!”
Junior stopped, face abashedly pink. Her lower lip trembled. "I'm… sorry… " eyes rolled to the side “…about climbing around the bubble ceiling. But, I am not sorry about sliming that old windbag! He deserved it! What planet is he from anyway? Jupiter, because he’s so much stupider?”
“Junior.” Olivia rubbed her throbbing forehead.
“My father’s gone and it’s all his fault!”
“Junior…” Olivia’s words got caught in her throat. She took a deep breath. “We were in deep space when Malcolm died.”
“Well…I just know. He’s a villain!”
Olivia watched the girl pace back and forth; hands on hips, just like Edward always did when he was mad. “God.”
“Ooh, poor Mom.” Junior flung her arms around her neck, jerking her into a tight hug. “It‘s not very fun being a star captain sometimes.”
Olivia muffled a little cry of pain when her daughter’s shoulder jammed her nose.
“Next time, I’ll chuck Admiral Jackass into the mud bog for you.”
Olivia unwedged her nose and found oxygen again. “I failed you. Maybe I should’ve sent you to live on Earth. Maybe…”
“No!” Junior cried in a shrill voice, pushing her back by the shoulders. Big tears appeared and dribbled down her freckled face. “Please don’t send me away! I’ll do better, I promise I will! I’ll play ro
cketball three times a day to burn more excess energy and never break into the chocolate again, I swear!”
“Oh, Junior.” Olivia sniffed, smoothing red tendrils from her cheek. “You are all at once my greatest strength and my greatest weakness.”
An image of Olivia’s long-ago husband passed through her thoughts.
I will do anything to make a family with you, Olivia. I’ll resign my commission. Then, we’ll qualify for reproductive assistance.
Bowing head, Olivia pressed fingertips to her lips. “I’ll resign my commission, if I must, but I will never let you go.” She looked up and took daughter’s chin in hand. “There is nothing more precious to me than you. Understand?”
Junior nodded.
“Find a tissue and blow your nose.” The image of a sword on the far computer screen interrupted Olivia’s train of thoughts. “What are you…”
Junior bounded across the room, and fell into the desk chair. “Look what I found!” She pointed at the sword’s image. “It’s an Irish Gallowglass sword. Isn’t it knotty?” She propped her elbow on the desk, chin in hand. “The historical record states its name is ‘Aodhan,’ which means ’born of fire,’ and it’s an O’Keefe family heirloom. Could that mean our family?”
Olivia’s fixed attention on the sword with Celtic swirls etched down its blade from the gold hilt. “Uh…yes.” She licked her upper lip. “Yes…this belonged to us once.”
“Where is it?”
“It…was lost…a long time ago.” Olivia swallowed down a lumpy throat. The memory of placing it in Edward’s hands during their wedding ceremony drifted through her thoughts.
“Oh.” Junior settled her chin back on her hand. “Grandma-in-Montana must still have a record of it though.”
Realizing where the conversation was going, Olivia changed the subject on a dime. "I understand you made a new friend today." She started for her bedroom. Distracting Junior was not a difficult task. "Oh, yeah, Mom! Jakoby is reeeally knotty. I'm going to marry him someday." She quickly launched into prattling. “He’s going to be on board with his mom for six whole weeks. Do you think Isaiah and Karana will get married? Do you think I’ll be a bridesmaid? Oh, it would be so dreamy to…”