by Z Gottlieb
Ptzing, ptzing, ptzing. Son of a bitch, someone was shooting at him. At least they were hitting a shield. He looked up and around but could not see the opalescent flicker of a shield, but there had to be a shield somewhere behind him. The ptzinging continued. His curiosity got the better of him. He turned, which slowed his run, but he needed to know how far behind the people shooting at him were. Shinny ran closely behind him, an angry expression on her face. She had a weapon in her right hand and was holding something like a shield behind her left shoulder.
He could not tell what she was saying with the ptzinging rapidly increasing. He moved over to the right to let her catch up to him. She ran next to him and slapped his stomach. The wind got knocked out of him as his abdomen radiated in pain from her slap. He wasn’t sure what was more shocking, Shinny hitting him or how much it hurt. The pain made running harder, but he kept pushing himself forward. Something on his back drove him to push his legs faster. It felt more like a distraction than a help, but he forced himself to keep moving forward.
“Brad, you don’t have anything for me. Take your friends and get the hell out of here!” Shinny shoved him away from her and swung around still holding her shield in place, deflecting the projectiles and lasers from the praser guns firing at them.
“Shinny!” Brad cried out as someone tugged his shoulder.
“Daddy, daddy, wake up—you’re having a bad dream.”
Brad popped his eyes open and saw Dane pulling his shoulder. His body was sore and his muscles stiff. Not exactly a good night’s sleep. Looking around he remembered he was on the couch in his office. His son stared at him. “Dane, I’m up. Give me a moment.” He sat up slowly, realizing how stupid it was to sleep on the couch without pulling it out. He stretched his shoulders and neck.
“Daddy, did you have a bad dream?” Dane asked, staring up at him with a worried look on his face.
“Why would you think that?” Brad looked at his son copying his movements as he continued to stretch his arms and muscles along his back.
“Your legs were moving and you were calling Mommy’s name. It looked like a bad dream. Mommy said you were sleeping here because it was complicake.”
Brad looked at his son and wondered what he could say that would be appropriate for a three-year-old. “Complicated would be one way of saying it. But your Mommy told me a lie and you know how I don’t like being told a lie.”
“If Mommy told a lie, why are you sleeping here with the lucky blanket?” Dane asked innocently.
“I’m asking myself the same question. I think if Mommy is naughty again, she gets the couch.” Brad rubbed his eyes and yawned. Hopefully they would be leaving soon and he wouldn’t have too many more nights on the couch, since it was way past its expiration date.
“Okay, Daddy.” Dane grabbed a travel mug off the coffee table and turned back toward him. “Mommy said to give this to you. It’s your favorite, coffee.”
Brad took the mug from Dane and pressed the button to sip the coffee. He couldn’t get out of his head that not only did he marry a space alien, but also they had produced a child. He thought he loved his wife, but learning he didn’t know much about her and couldn’t be sure what he could or should trust when it came to her was devastating. He loved and adored his son, and as far as he could tell Dane was one hundred percent human, but he still had his concerns. He pondered if his son’s precociousness was the result of his mother’s genetic makeup. Not that it would be something bad, he reminded himself. Brad watched his son squirm. “Dane, did you want to tell me something?”
Dane nodded. “Uh huh. Uncle Connor and Nanny are in the kitchen and I’m going to go play with Ben and Sarah. So you need to come to the kitchen.”
“I do?” Brad watched his son nod again. “Okay, I guess I do.” Brad stood up and stretched more before he followed Dane out of the room to the kitchen.
When he walked into the kitchen, he saw Connor, Nan, and Shinny standing at a counter with Melissa Kittredge, Dane’s favorite babysitter. Looking at Shinny he still felt he had been manipulated and he was angry over her deceptions. Although, she no longer smelled, he kept his distance from her. He was angry. His world had been turned upside down last night, yet her serene, placid face gave no hint of any trouble between them. Connor, Nan, and Shinny had a single-minded look about them. He felt uneasy looking at them and wondered what this was about.
Seeing Melissa, he decided to ask the obvious question, “Who’s watching Ben and Sarah?”
“My brother, Pete, is over there now.” Melissa smiled as she bent down and picked up Dane. “Dane, let’s go and have a play date with your cousins.”
You mean aunt and uncle, Brad thought. “Dane, how about a goodbye hug for me?”
Melissa brought Dane over to Brad for a hug, and then crossed to Shinny to let Dane also hug his mother. “Dane, wave goodbye, we’ll see everyone later.”
Brad watched Melissa leave with Dane waving at them. Everyone stood quietly in the kitchen waiting to hear the front door close behind Melissa. Brad wondered what would be next. Watching them look at him, he had a feeling they were ganging up on him about something. Not willing to wait any longer, he got the ball rolling. “Okay, is there something more I need to know?” He hoped there wouldn’t be anything new, as he was still trying hard to process everything he saw and was told last night. Brad took a sip of his coffee as he watched the silver flickers in Connor and Shinny’s eyes and gold in Nan’s. He had always thought it was unusual and thought Shinny’s flicker was an attractive twinkle. He was even more intrigued when he learned last night it meant they were communicating through their implanted chips or accessing information from a networked system. Thinking about that gave him a headache, but technologically speaking he was raised in a cave compared to them.
“Nan will not be watching the children as we discussed last night,” Connor announced, looking at Brad. “There are two reasons for this decision. The first is that Nan decided it was more urgent for her to focus on her research project, in view of last night’s incident. The second is that Nan and I have decided Ben and Sarah should have their chips inserted and this would be an ideal time.”
Brad felt the blood drain from his face. “I’m not sure I understand. What is Nan researching that is more important than watching our children?” Brad asked staring at both Connor and Nan. He wasn’t sure what the implications of Connor’s announcement would be, but whatever it was, he was sure he was not going to be happy.
“As I mentioned last night, Nan is leading several academic research teams investigating Earth’s readiness to be integrated into CIG. At the rate the Aneplé have been taking control over the transit gates between the galaxies, if CIG cannot stop their advancements, Earth has fifteen to twenty years before the Aneplé find Earth. Her team needs to finish their research quickly and make a recommendation. The recommendation would impact the way forward in bolstering Earth’s defenses.”
“I see. So what will happen to Ben and Sarah? I thought inserting the chip was fairly simple and quick. Did I misunderstand your explanation last night?”
“Inserting the chip is probably less than a thirty minute procedure. Nevertheless, we’ve decided that in addition to inserting the chip, we are going to place them in hibernation at the station for the few months I’m deployed. This will also allow Nan to focus on her research. I checked the facility earlier today before I flew back. They are well equipped to keep them safe. “ Connor stood straighter. “With this change Dane is left without a guardian during the time Shinny and you were planning to travel with me. Shinny has orders to return and has no choice; therefore, you will need to stay home to watch Dane. It may be possible to join me later, if I decide to remain as CIG’s Fleet Admiral.”
Brad glanced at Shinny. “How long will you be gone?” Not wanting to hear from her, Brad asked Connor, “Can I leave when she returns?”
“Brad, the time I am gone shouldn’t be too long. I need to upgrade my training and then transfer to the
inactive reserve,” she explained. “As far as leaving when I return, I can’t answer that. It would be entirely up to the station commander and the transport schedule.”
“The issue is logistics; there may not be enough time to pick you up before the next transport needs to leave Earth,” Connor added.
Brad shifted his weight awkwardly, reacting to his unhappiness with Connor’s announcement. He wasn’t good at hiding his emotions. The concern was probably all over his face. “What about my parents watching Dane? I’m sure they wouldn’t mind doing it for a few weeks.”
“Brad, if I could guarantee we would be gone just a few weeks it wouldn’t be a problem. We have a cover story that we are traveling throughout Europe building our customer base, but do you see it working with your parents if we are delayed beyond a few weeks? It would be better if they thought the children were traveling with us,” Connor explained. “However, there is an alternative you could consider.”
“What is it?” Brad asked anxiously.
“Dane’s space heritage is as valid as Ben and Sarah’s. You may want to consider the chip implantation and hibernation also. Knowing your background, I understand your discomfort. I’m not going to force you to make a similar decision with Dane. You need to come to that conclusion on your own, that both the chip insertion and hibernation are safe and necessary.”
Brad stiffened as he struggled with the idea. Nan and Connor might feel comfortable injecting a chip in their children’s heads and freezing them, but he wasn’t convinced the medical technology was safe, even though they stood there as evidence of its safety. Intellectually, his hesitation wasn’t about the technology. It was his own emotions and his lack of understanding of the technology. The technology might be safer than crossing the street, but he didn’t have enough information to make a sound decision. Even if he did have the information, he wasn’t sure he could make a decision like that when it came to his son. He looked at Shinny, wondering what she was thinking. While he felt as compelled as Connor to defend Earth, he was kidding himself if he thought he would make a difference. He wouldn’t want to live with the guilt he was trading his son’s life for a once in a lifetime ride through the stars. “He doesn’t have the same genetic makeup as Ben and Sarah. Can you guarantee it would be safe for him?” He took a deep breath and let it out. “Shinny, Dane is your son also, where do you stand on this?”
“Connor, Nan, and I look like everyone because we are the same genotype. The medical risks for Dane are no different than for Ben and Sarah. Dane will be more at risk from getting sick from Ebola and dying if he doesn’t get the chip. The chip will constantly provide organic corrections or immune upgrades if confronted with a new virus or bacteria. The chip will also enhance his education by leaps and bounds.” Shinny reached and touched Brad’s arm. “I want my son safe. If I can’t watch him myself, placing him in hibernation at this time is the safest place for him. If it was only my decision, I wouldn’t hesitate.”
Brad pulled his arm away from her. He was aghast at Shinny’s words. He wondered why he even bothered to ask her since he still felt betrayed by her lies and didn’t feel he could trust anything from her. Odd as it was, he had accepted and understood Connor and Nan’s reasons for not sharing the same secret of their space heritage. Nor did he question Connor and Nan’s parenting decisions for Ben and Sarah. As Connor had explained earlier, there was no question about Ben and Sarah’s genetic birthright. Yet he couldn’t get past his emotional shock and begin trusting everything she said this soon. He ignored the distressed looked on Shinny’s face, as he dismissed her. He asked Connor, “I need more information. Where do you stand on this?”
“I am willing to support your desire to join CIG’s Fleet, but not if you can’t learn to accept that the technology now available to your son and you is a gift that will in some cases require you to revise some of your assumptions. I’m qualifying that with a “some,” because I expect this revision will cut both ways. We may need to listen to you and reassess what we have always believed to be true. Our technology and maturity as a civilization have not given us a monopoly on always knowing what is right along with knowing the correct course of action. If it did, CIG would not have stumbled into this conflict with the Aneplé, a conflict that has continued for centuries.” Connor studied Brad for a moment, “I’m not asking you to make changes to your value system, because there is nothing wrong with it, but I am asking you to not discount the information that will be available to you, to question both sides of the equation, your suppositions as well as ours.”
Brad was speechless. “I had naturally assumed I would need to start questioning everything I knew, but I didn’t expect you to ask me to also question your domain. Although I can’t even begin to understand why you would ask this of me, I think I understand what you want. But I still don’t have enough information to make a decision, especially when it comes to Dane.”
“We don’t have time for you to take baby steps, but I will grant you may not have enough information at this time to make a decision. First, Dane is not the first child to be born of mixed heritage nor would he be the first with his background to immigrate, be given a chip and placed into hibernation. Second, Dane is my grandson; I love him as much as my own children and wouldn’t subject him to any unnecessary risks. Third, placing children in hibernation during deployments is common among Fleet personnel. I don’t see it any different than people sending their children to summer camps here. In fact, I find it odd how people on Earth will entrust their children to strangers who have not been as thoroughly vetted as the staff manning the Hibernation Centers. The primary difference is that our children are unaware their parents have been gone for months. My first wife and I put Shinny into hibernation a few times and there have been no ill effects from doing that. We probably could have a lengthy discussion on comparing the pros and cons of both situations, but as I mentioned before, we don’t have the luxury of time since Shinny and I plan to report to the station early tomorrow morning.”
Pain stabbed Brad’s chest again upon hearing something new about Shinny. He needed to get over his anger with his wife. The woman was more than 130 years older than him and there would always be something new to discover about her. But hearing of her hibernation periods was another reminder of how different she was from him, how much she had hid from him, and how little he knew about her. He inhaled deeply as he reminded himself to focus on the problem at hand. “Before I agree to Dane’s chip implantation and hibernation, I want to have the chip implantation first.” At least he would have an idea of the procedure and whether it was safe before he subjected his son to the alien technology. He told himself he could refuse to let them chip Dane if it didn’t go well for him. If he survived.
“Fair enough. I’ll make the request. However, I can’t make any guarantees. I’m inclined to believe the request will be granted because Griken is anxious to return to CIG space and insisted the station expedite your induction into the Fleet. Nevertheless, I’ll let you know if the station denies your request.”
“Thanks, that will help me make the decisions I need to make.” Surprised Griken had taken an interest, Brad relaxed slightly and took another sip of his coffee, wondering if he would get any answers to his next few questions. “After I receive my chip and raise my hand promising to defend the universe against all the bad guys, what’s next?”
Connor didn’t respond to Brad’s attempt at bad humor and instead looked at his watch. “I can answer a few more questions, but we need to prepare for the trip. This will include packing and securing our houses. After you receive the chip and join the Fleet, you will be given an aptitude test and presented with the available career options. Training will depend upon the career field you choose.” Connor took on his Fleet persona, standing straight at his full height. “We leave at 2200 tonight, one carryon bag and one small bag per person, and the car seats. I don’t want to leave them in the car for someone to find and ask questions. They would go with us as if we were taki
ng a plane. I will take care of the work issues and ask Melissa and Pete to mow our lawns during the time we are gone. Shinny, report at 2100 for preflight check; you will be my second seat.”
“Yes, Connor. Will there be anything else, sir?” Shinny stood erect and nodded a salute to Connor.
Brad noted the change in Shinny’s demeanor. “Is Shinny a pilot also?” he asked reluctantly. He suspected she probably was, and didn’t want to hear it, as more new information about her might cause another uncomfortable physical reaction. However, he now believed he should know everything about her going forward.
“Although she did not fly your Cessna, she is certified to fly Fleet planetary vehicles. Considering who my passengers will be, I will use her skills as a backup on the safety checks and as my copilot.” Connor looked from person to person. “Any last questions?”
Brad nodded that he understood. Shinny and Nan stood silently as if all of their questions had been answered. But he still had more questions than Connor clearly had time or was willing to answer for the moment. Brad tried to ignore his body clenching and the sting in his chest from hearing more background information on Shinny and hoped his physical reaction wasn’t noticeable. He glanced at Shinny and Nan. They didn’t look like they were going to ask another question and he probably should hold off on more questions. He still had one nagging question, though, that he needed to ask - as senseless as it might seem to them. “Once we are on station and I’m a member of CIG’s Fleet Force, do I address you as Admiral or Dad?” It was odd thinking his best friend was now his father-in-law. He didn’t want to go there, but if that was what he needed to do, then so be it.