“Wait, hold on. He’s here?” Renn asked, wide-eyed, thinking about the Mindeerians onboard. “Oh my gawd, I know who it is! He’s totally cool, Dad! He even looks like me. He’s got blonde hair, just like mine and blue eyes….”
“So you two get along then?” Adam asked.
“We totally do!” Renn said.
Adam sighed. “Oh thank gawd,” he laughed. “I was so worried about telling you.”
Dylan and Leo walked in and saw Renn practically jumping on his bed. “What’s going on?” Dylan asked, before realizing Renn was still on the phone.
“Tabit’s my brother!” Renn said.
“That’s cool,” Dylan replied. “He’s such a good fighter.”
“Tabit? Who’s Tabit?” Adam asked, confused. “Son, your brother’s name is Desh.”
Everyone’s jaw dropped, while Renn looked at the screen in shock. “Nooooooo!” Renn cried in horror.
Ivan erupted in laughter. “Oh, man. That’s so defunct.”
“It can’t be Desh,” Renn said, grabbing onto denial for dear life.
“It’s Desh, Renn. I may not know what he looks like grown up, but I know his name’s Desh,” Adam said, as anxiety returned to his face. “I’m sorry, it’s just that everyone meets at the same port junction on breaks and your mom’s going to be there to see Desh, and you, of course…”
Renn’s hands snapped with electricity as his frustration mounted. “Thirteen years, Dad. How could you not say something?”
“Telling you that you had a brother would have done nothing but create more questions. What’s his name? Where’s he live? Why can’t I see him? You wouldn’t have been able to let it go.”
Renn didn’t say anything. He sat there, staring at his dad, feeling sick to his stomach, knowing his dad was right.
“I’m sorry, Renn, but Searsmont’s just the beginning. Your mother and I were willing to do anything to keep you from a life of running and hiding.”
“Then why did you and mom have me if it just meant we were going to have to run?”
“You were wanted, but not expected. We did the best we could,” Adam replied.
“Does Desh know?” Renn asked.
“No, not yet,” Adam said. “Your mom’s going to tell him when she sees him. It’s not our place to tell him, all right?”
Renn nodded. “Why not tell him if he’s already a part of this life?”
“Because he wouldn’t have been able to let it go either,” Adam said.
After they ended the transmission, Renn lay in bed feeling sick. He and his roommates wouldn’t have any more classes with Desh before the break, but they still had another day off on the ship before then. They all agreed to wear thought blockers until the break, in case they slipped and accidentally let him know (by thinking about it), that Renn was Desh’s brother.
Before bed, Renn took his mom’s video message into the bathroom. He listened to his mother’s voice, telling him one last time, how she had always loved him and wanted to see him. When the image froze, Renn traced her face with his finger, hoping their first meeting would go well.
The day finally came when it was time for the First Years to leave for their break.
The students ran down to the portals, excited about going home, even if it was just for a couple days. Renn thought about sleeping in his own bed, smelling the ocean in the air, feeling the sun on his face, and spending time with his dad; all of which sounded amazing after spending months on a ship.
When they went through the portal, the corridor at the port junction was empty except for students who had just gone through and a lone Federation robot. The security-bot motioned them to keep going, stating, “Parents will be waiting in the main hall, please move along,” in an attempt to prevent a bottleneck.
When they got into the main hall it was filled with dozens of species, waiting for their kids.
Renn, Leo, and Dylan scanned the crowd until they heard a group of voices yell, “Dylan!” and looked over to see Dylan’s family waving with huge smiles on their faces.
“See you guys back on the ship,” Dylan shouted to Renn and Leo, before disappearing into the mass of people waiting around.
“I don’t see my dad here yet,” Renn said. “I’m gonna walk towards the Milky Way’s portal.”
“See you later,” Leo replied, trying to sound excited for him, but Renn had already known Leo long enough to recognize the sadness in his voice.
Renn stopped and turned around, looking at Leo. “Aren’t you gonna look for your parents?” Renn asked.
“No, I’m just…gonna meet them on Crystalline,” Leo replied, and then took off down the closest corridor.
“Uh, Leo…” Renn said. He started to go after him, noticing Crystalline wasn’t in one of the solar systems he was heading towards, but knew Leo was too smart to make such an absentminded mistake.
Renn watched him for a moment, until he heard his own name called. He whipped around and saw his dad running up to him, a second before Adam grabbed him off his feet in a tight hug.
“Gawd, I missed you!” Adam said.
Renn laughed at his dad’s excitement. “I missed you too, Dad.”
Renn heard someone think his name, but the male’s voice was unfamiliar. He turned towards the source and saw a Toran who looked like the adult version of Kia walking beside Renn’s mother, exiting an adjacent corridor. Neither had seemed to spot Renn, while they remained immersed in a conversation about him.
Earth is secure again; you could just send him back, the Toran thought.
He knows about us, Schepp. He'll attend the Galileo with Desh and decide for himself which life to choose, Hollen replied.
Mom! was then projected into her head and Renn turned to see Desh running up to her. She smiled and opened her arms, showering Desh with kisses.
“I see Kia,” Schepp said, walking away.
Desh continued hugging his mom, having been deprived of her embrace for too long. She was always her softest when they hadn’t seen each other for a long time. He knew it wouldn’t be long before she would get used to his presence, and start thinking about her responsibilities, and the soldier would once again resurface.
“You grew an inch since I saw you last,” she whispered in his ear as she held him close.
Desh laughed until he heard, “Schepp, you old man!” He turned to see Schepp smile and start walking towards a human male, standing next to Renn. Desh and Renn made eye contact for a moment before Renn quickly looked away.
“Desh, there’s something I have to tell you,” Hollen said, grabbing Desh’s attention.
Schepp and Adam gave each other a warm hug.
“It’s been too long, old friend,” Schepp said. “How's early retirement?”
“It was great,” Adam replied. “Right up until a bunch of blood-sucking maniacs attacked and tried to kill us.”
“Story of my life, Brother,” Schepp replied, half joking. He looked down at Renn. “You must be Renn. I’m Schepp, your mother’s first lieutenant.” He extended his hand and gave Renn a strong handshake.
“This is my oldest son, Kia,” Schepp said to Adam proudly. Adam and Kia shook hands, exchanging pleasantries.
Schepp looked at Kia. “Son, when you were just a baby, you would fly around and land on Adam’s shoulders instead of mine.”
“That’s…embarrassing,” Kia mumbled.
Renn stifled a laugh.
Schepp looked at Renn. “You know, your father and I go back a long ways. We fought many battles together. I’ve never seen a braver human than him.”
Adam shook his head, grinning. “Don’t listen to him, Son. I always hid behind Schepp’s wings.”
Schepp laughed and gave Renn a nudge. “Only when your mother came around,” he said, and then stopped when Adam forced a cough. They all looked over to see Hollen and Desh walking up, her eyes jumping between Adam and Renn.
“Hi, Sweetie,” Adam said, giving Hollen a soft kiss and warm embrace.
Desh’s back tensed at the informality of the greeting. His palms gave a sharp snap, prompting a glare from his mother. He wondered how often they had been seeing each other in recent months for them to be so casual with each other.
They all stood there for a moment until Schepp broke the silence. “Well, we should get going. Desh, have you said your goodbyes?”
Desh shook his head and gave his mother another hug. She tilted his chin up so she could kiss his cheek, while Desh shifted his eyes to glare at Renn.
At least Desh won’t be spending break with her either, Renn thought.
Desh scowled at him and gritted his teeth with hatred, until Kia gave him a nudge and a look that said, “Knock it off.”
Kia shook hands with Hollen and walked towards Schepp, but then stopped and turned to Renn. “I'll see you back on the ship,” Kia said, to Desh’s chagrin.
“Uh…sure,” Renn replied.
Adam offered to walk with them, allowing Hollen to be alone with Renn—a moment which everyone but Desh was trying to provide.
Hollen and Renn stood there staring at each other a moment, neither sure how to proceed. Their hands illuminated when they both became overwhelmed with emotion at seeing each other face-to-face, thirteen years after his birth. Hollen then pulled him close to her and hugged him.
Adam and Schepp tried to catch up as Desh stared at Kia.
What was that? Desh projected. How long have you known that Renn’s my half brother?
I just found out, Kia replied.
“Show me,” Desh said.
Kia recalled the conversation he had had with his father, only moments before.
Through Kia’s eyes, Desh saw Schepp whisper, “Son, there’s something you need to know...” He went on to tell him that Renn was Hollen’s son, to Kia’s shock, “…and I expect you to follow the next Mindeerian captain after I pass,” he said. “That may not be Desh. You and Renn need to start working together during your stay on the Galileo.”
Kia stared at his father a moment, speechless. “Dad, Desh is like a brother to me…” he began.
“You two grew up together, I would expect nothing less,” Schepp interrupted. “I'm not asking you to end your loyalty to Desh; I'm asking you to extend it to his brother, Renn. We have been first lieutenant aboard the Quintessence for centuries. I expect you to follow in my footsteps and make me proud. Or should I have bestowed this honor to one of your brothers?”
“No, sir,” Kia said, straightening up. “I will protect him, if it means my life.”
“Hopefully it won't have to come to that,” Schepp said to his eldest son.
Desh dropped the image, and looked down like he was going to be sick.
I'm sorry, Kia thought.
Desh shook his head. You've done nothing wrong. He's right. If Renn’s the next captain, it won't change anything between you and me. Brothers till the end, right?
Brothers till the end, Kia replied.
Desh looked over and saw his mother holding Renn. It hurt, he had to admit, seeing her love someone else the way she loved him. He thought about confronting her, but blocked his thoughts instead. How could she not have told him he had a brother? That there was a possibility that he wouldn’t be the captain of the Quintessence, like he had always been told he would be.
He looked away, unable to watch any more, when Hollen reached up and touched Renn’s face.
“You look like your father,” Hollen said with a smile.
“Can’t you stay with us for a while?” Renn asked, “It’s just for a couple of days…”
“No, I’m sorry. I really can’t right now,” she said.
Renn tried to hold it together, but his frustration mounted. “I thought we were going to get to spend time together…”
“And we will, I promise. I do want to be with you, Renn, but our species is still being hunted. It’s a race to get to them before the Eminites. I’m sorry, I just can’t leave them to defend themselves.”
“And when it’s over?” Renn asked.
“Then you’re going to get so sick of me hugging you and asking you to tell me all about everything I missed.”
Renn laughed. “I don’t think I’d get sick of that.”
“Soon, okay?” Hollen pleaded.
Renn nodded reluctantly. “Yeah. Okay.”
Hollen leaned over and kissed his cheek while Adam walked up.
“Hi,” she said to Adam.
“Hi.”
Renn felt out of place as they just stared at each other, realizing the two really needed to be alone for a moment. He pretended to stretch and then nonchalantly turned around, looking at an advertisement for space cruises. He remained fixated on a picture of a cruise to a planet made purely of diamonds, while the sound of faint kissing noises could be heard behind him.
“You should get going,” Renn finally heard his mother say, and turned around, assuming they were done saying, “Hi.”
She gave Renn another hug and kiss, and watched them walk down the corridor before she disappeared into a portal.
Adam put his arm around Renn, while they followed a few First Years down a corridor, towards the “M0 – R99” solar systems.
“Not so bad, was it?” Adam asked.
“No, she’s really cool. That was kind of weird with Kia though,” Renn said, thinking out loud.
“What do you mean?” Adam asked.
“I don’t think he even knew I was alive until two minutes ago. Now he’s talking to me?” Renn asked.
“He didn’t know you were Hollen’s son. It changes everything. I’ll explain when we get back home,” Adam said, “but if Kia’s anything like his father, I would love to see you get to know him better. Schepp is an amazing man. There’s no one your mother and I trust more than him. When you were born, there were only a handful of people who knew about you, and Schepp was one of them.”
“If only a handful of people knew, then how did the Eminites know I was on Earth?” Renn asked.
“I really don’t know. It’s hard to imagine anyone close to Hollen betraying her, knowing what a compassionate friend and vicious enemy she can be,” Adam replied.
They reached the portal and set it for Camden, Maine, when they saw Jonah and his father approaching. Adam and Renn groaned, and Renn gave a pleading look to his father.
“It’s unavoidable,” Adam said under his breath to Renn.
“Hello Adam…Renn,” the minister said, nodding to them both when he reached them.
“Patrick,” Adam replied, shaking the minister’s hand. “Jonah,” Adam said, nodding to the boy, who continued to scowl at Renn. Adam nudged Renn, prompting Renn to force a smile.
“I hear your boy is starting to act Mindeerian,” the minister said, curling his lip when he said “Mindeerian”.
“Well, he is half Mindeerian. It seems appropriate enough,” Adam replied.
“Appropriate?” the minister repeated. “You think it’s appropriate for your son to shut my son’s mouth with energy just because he doesn’t like what he’s hearing?”
“Well, Renn’s only thirteen…what’s a father to do?” Adam asked, daring the minister to say one word, as any word would emphasize the hypocrisy of his accusation.
The minister bit his tongue, and placed his hand on the portal scanner.
“That’s it?” Jonah said, looking up at his dad in shock. “Can’t you at least damn them to hell or something?”
“Jonah, please,” the minister said.
“Unbelievable,” Jonah groaned, while he placed his own hand on the scanner.
Jonah stomped off through the portal, followed by his father, who turned his head to glare at Adam and Renn one last time before walking through the glimmering silver.
Adam looked down at Renn and winked. “Come on, let’s go home,” he said, wrapping his arm around Renn’s neck and kissing him on his head.
Renn smiled. Home sounded so nice.
Renn and Adam spent the next two days doing what they had always done. The
y played catch in the backyard, ate freshly caught fish for dinner, and watched movies till they fell asleep. It was the best two days Renn and Adam could remember having in a long time.
At the end of the break, Adam sat Renn down, and explained all that he had kept from him for so long. That Adam had been an Intergalactic Law Enforcement agent, until Desh’s father, Theron, died. Adam then became the second lieutenant aboard the Quintessence, a Federation ship his mother was the captain of. She and Renn were born from a long line of Mindeerians, passing the responsibility of captain down from generation to generation. Since Hollen had already given birth to Desh, she had fulfilled her requirement by supplying an heir to take over after she died, leaving her free to have a child born out of love instead of obligation — a child who would have the option of leading a normal life. That is, unless her enemies found out about him and went after him out of revenge. Now that he had been discovered, he had the choice of joining the Quintessence, or running for the rest of his life.
“I don’t want to run, Dad,” Renn said.
“I didn’t think you would,” Adam replied.
“You want me to though, don’t you?”
“It’s just such a dangerous life, Renn. It’s like the game, Battle of the Species. You may think it’s cool playing for a couple of hours, but imagine that on a daily basis, without being able to eliminate the pain and without lives to spare.”
“Would I be an agent?” Renn asked.
“Well, technically, you could be captain. You would be for sure if Desh died before providing an heir, but the decision’s up to your mother.”
CHAPTER 11
The Closet Explorer
Renn and Adam returned to the port junction, relieved to be able to take their time with their good-bye, instead of having laser blasts fired at them until they left.
When Renn was back on the Galileo, he messaged Leo and Dylan, wondering if either of them had made it back yet. Leo replied back, “Eating,” and Renn headed to the mess hall when he heard behind him, “Hey, white boy.”
Renn turned around, seeing Dylan smiling. They walked to the mess hall talking about the last two days. When they got there, they found Leo stuffing his face with a large chilled shellfish.
Galileo (Battle of the Species) Page 18