Connor's Gambit

by Z Gottlieb

  Shinny stepped toward Brad. “I should have explained this to you a long time ago. Since we do not use terms for in-laws, you would normally address Connor as Father. However, addressing our father as Connor is considered respectful among Fleet personnel, since it is an honorific title meaning Fleet Admiral. When we arrived here, we learned that although Connor had a different meaning for us, it was a common name that was pronounced the same way. It was the easiest choice for both of us since my father has had the title for more years than Hawaii has been a state.”

  Brad felt the tension in his body build as Shinny answered his question. He heard everything she said, but had trouble focusing. He needed to get away and work through the emotional strain building inside him but it didn’t look like that was going to happen in the near future. Inhaling deeply, he responded, “Connor it is.” Although Brad was not feeling well at that moment, he hoped he could be able to pass the physical exam. He questioned if he made the right decision. Perhaps he should just bag it and stay home with Dane. But he if he did he was committing himself to a planet bound life. He might never have another chance to realize his dream of space flight or space exploration.

  Connor held his hand out toward Nan for her to hold, “I’ll send Melissa over with Dane in a few hours to give you time to prepare for the flight. See you tonight,” he said as he walked toward the front door with Nan.

  Brad’s heart pounded rapidly as he stared silently at Shinny wanting to have the discussion they should have had years ago, but they had too much to do if they were going to leave in less than twelve hours for a lengthy trip. “Make sure Dane’s clothes and toys are packed and I will take care of everything else,” he winced in anger before he turned and walked backed to his office wondering what the hell should he pack in a small bag for a trip that might be a few months. It would be nice to ask someone, but Connor made it clear he would be too busy; Nan would expect him to talk to Shinny but he still wasn’t ready to talk to her about anything at this time. He would figure something out and hopefully Shinny would be out of the bedroom when he was ready to pack.

  Chapter 6

  The ptzing ptzing increased rapidly as Shinny ran next to him on his left. It’s the same damn dream. Just wake up. He wasn’t sure what was more important, keeping up with the group in front of him or waking up before Shinny slapped his abdomen again. Trapped in the dream, he wasn’t able to do anything, not even prepare for the slap when it came. Once again the pain made it hard for him to focus on running and caused him to slow down, but he kept running. He knew what was coming next; he had heard her say it twice to him already. It was going to hurt more than the slap, but he wasn’t able to wake up.

  “Brad, you don’t have anything for me. Take your friends and get the hell out of here,” Shinny yelled at him. She shoved him away from her.

  “Shinny!” Brad cried out as his shoulder was tugged and pulled.

  “Brad wake up, it’s just a dream.”

  Brad woke up and opened his eyes. He shook his head slightly to regain his composure as he glanced around the shuttle. He wondered if everyone in the shuttle heard him. Quickly glancing at his watch he realized that although they had been traveling only few hours, they were not far from the aliens’ ground based station, their destination, located in the Kermadec Trench. The trench, one of Earth's deepest oceanic trenches, was not far from New Zealand. He briefly looked around at his family and reminded himself that he was the alien in their eyes. Nan was reaching over Ben and Dane, lightly squeezing his right shoulder, staring at him with her dark green eyes. “I’m sorry, I must have fallen asleep,” Brad responded to the concerned look on Nan’s face.

  “Are you okay?” Nan asked quietly.

  “Daddy, had another bad dream,” announced Dane. “Daddy, were you dreaming about Mommy again?” Dane asked.

  Dane’s innocent question caused Brad to flinch inside. “Yes, Dane, it was a Mommy-Daddy dream. Don’t worry, I’m okay now.”

  Nan tapped a few things on her tablet. “Dane, I’m going to readjust your seat so you can go back to sleep.” Dane nestled into his seat as it reclined to fit his small body and immediately dropped back to sleep.

  “Nan, thanks. Not only am I having a hard time adapting to everything I thought I knew about Shinny, but also we seem to be doing a poor job of keeping Dane out of this. He shouldn’t need to worry about what is going on between his parents.” He watched the back of Shinny’s head where she sat in the row ahead of him in the copilot’s seat.

  Brad didn’t feel comfortable revealing the chaos he felt inside, but he needed to be upfront with the issue if he was going to move past it. He kept his voice low so only Nan could hear. “Truthfully, I haven’t done well since learning Shinny isn’t the person I married. Intellectually, I understand why she couldn’t be honest with me, but I keep asking myself who and what did I marry? To top it off, I’ve been having this bizarre recurring dream of her hitting me and telling me she doesn’t want me anymore. I can’t blame her, considering the way I’ve been acting for the past twenty-four hours.”

  Nan pursed her lips. “Neither Shinny nor Connor imagined you would find out the way you did. Shinny should have started the process before Dane was born. She has admitted it was a mistake to wait as long as she did. There are several things I can’t say to you at this time. However, I believe over time, your questions and concerns will be answered. We recognize your turmoil is from the shock of learning your planet isn’t the only inhabited planet in the universe. However, I also believe your shock is compounded by learning your wife and closest friend are not from Earth. While you seemed to immediately accept Connor’s revelation, it seems to be a bigger shock to have learned about Shinny’s origination. We are cognizant it’s been difficult for you and understand the struggle you are having internally when it comes to your relationship with Shinny. Then again, had Shinny been given the opportunity to tell you herself without you accidently finding out, would you have received the news any better?”

  Brad stared at Connor and Shinny sitting in the cockpit area in their uniforms. He watched them as they gestured above the controls on the dashboard. “I don’t know. I used to think we were like the three musketeers making our way through the world. Now, I’m thinking it was probably more like the dynamic duo and their dim-witted sidekick. I’m not even sure why they kept me around. They were quite capable of accomplishing anything they wanted without me.”

  “Brad, we understand you will need to confront and reconcile many of your expectations and beliefs, but most of all you need to stop feeling sorry for yourself. If Connor and Shinny viewed you as you had just described yourself, they would not have maintained their friendship with you over the past thirteen years nor would you be on this vehicle to our ground station. Do you think Shinny would have chosen you to be her mate if you were just a dim-witted sidekick?”

  “No, I don’t think that, but I don’t understand it, either. It doesn’t make sense why Connor is supporting my recruitment to CIG’s Fleet. Neither does Shinny’s relationship with me make any sense. She could be married to an admiral instead of someone who just learned to tie his shoes. I think I’m more confused than wallowing in self-pity. I’m trying to understand the past thirteen years as well as the future.”

  “You are overthinking everything. You need to focus on the changes and decisions you will need to make soon. Once you are on the battle cruiser, you will have a great many new things thrown at you but you will also need to find time to talk to Shinny and work your issues out between the two of you. As for Connor, when he’s ready, he will explain everything to you.”

  “Has he explained everything to you?” Brad asked.

  “Actually, when it comes to you, the answer is no, and I suspect the reason is related to CIG’s Fleet.”

  Nan’s statement confused Brad even more. He could not imagine how his relationship with Connor would be Fleet related, unless it was related to human experimentation. That thought left him more apprehensive. He
understood Connor well enough to know he would never condone human experimentation or torture. Those were his own screwy ideas and he needed to drop that line of thinking. But he still wondered where Shinny fit into all of this. “What about Shinny? Why do you think she married me?”

  Nan sighed heavily at his question, “You need to have that conversation with her, but I suspect it’s the same reason most people on your world marry.”

  Brad sat silently for a few moments thinking about what Nan shared with him. He believed her, but he kept thinking there had to be another reason. He had a few more questions to ask, but Connor announced they had reached their point of entry into the Pacific Ocean. Once he received clearance he would initiate an ocean entry to dive toward the station.

  Brad turned to Nan. “Will there be a pressure change affecting the children?”

  The small gold flecks in her eyes flashed in the dark. Nan was either checking the information stored on the vehicle’s computers or consulting with Connor. “Connor says it’s unlikely with the pressurized cabin, but they may wake up, since the dive will not be as smooth as traveling in air with this vehicle.”

  It didn’t look like much was going to wake his son, but Brad appreciated being given notice. He looked out his porthole and watched as they entered the ocean. Connor was right, the ride wasn’t as smooth and it seemed like the aircraft (or was it a submersible now?) was struggling to push through the water. Although they left during the night, daylight had come, showing schools of fish moving with the current near the surface. He had expected it to be darker as they dived deeper into the water, since natural light from the sun couldn’t penetrate the deep water, but light emanated from the vehicle. As the vehicle submerged deeper, the plants and schools of fish disappeared leaving the eerie sight of the stark walls of the trench. It was a pretty amazing sight, but he was disappointed he wouldn’t be able to share it with anyone. Perhaps when they returned he would be able to point out the sea creatures closer to the surface to Dane, who remained in a deep sleep.

  The vehicle steadily slowed and entered a dark cavern, where it came to a stop. Looking out of the porthole, Brad realized they were in a steel tube moving slowly as the water level dropped. The cabin lights gradually brightened, as the vehicle moved forward.

  “As soon as the seawater has drained, I will dock the vehicle inside the station,” Connor announced.

  Brad focused on Connor and Shinny’s reflection on the windshield. He sighed wistfully staring at their uniforms with their insignias, wondering how he missed the signs. Both wore black long sleeved crew neck tops and fitted pants similar to what Griken had worn at Connor’s house. Connor had four bluish white circles similar to hot stars placed along the right and left edges of his shirt’s rounded collar. On the left side of his shirt was the insignia Griken had given to Connor at his house: a thin platinum elongated sine wave with a shooting star on the right end and four smaller star shapes similar in color to the circles on his collar, placed evenly across the sign wave. Shinny had three gold triangles on each side of her collar and an ominous crossed fists insignia on the left side of her shirt. She was also wearing her black boots from her high school days. He never quite understood her fascination with her boots that she wore all the time, but he now understood it was an integral part of her uniform as a Special Combat Officer. Wearing these boots was akin to carrying a gun. He never saw a weapon and wasn’t even sure she needed one after last night, but now he wouldn’t be surprised if he learned that she had always carried a weapon. Crap, he didn’t want to think about it, at least not now. He looked around and packed Dane’s toys and books in the carry-on bag and picked up other items to help Nan pack to keep himself busy.

  The vehicle came to a gentle stop. Brad looked out of the porthole at the space vehicles docked in the room. He estimated that there were perhaps thirty to fifty of them. Once he got out, he would be able to count all of the spacecraft, since he could only see out one side of the craft. It shocked him that there were so many alien vehicles on Earth and yet, for the most part, they had remained completely undetected. He wondered what would be first, Earth identifying the UFOs or CIG openly announcing their arrival. He would be surprised if any of the major superpowers could develop the technology to detect these crafts before CIG decided to announce their official arrival. He smiled thinking he might be around to see it and it would probably be entertaining. He imagined the chaos that would arise at the United Nations, when Connor suddenly interrupted his daydreaming.

  “I was informed by the platform commander that the staff will ensure our suitcases are moved to our rooms, but you may want to take your personal items now,” Connor advised everyone as he initiated the vehicle’s shutdown procedures. “It’s show time, folks. Nan, if you carry Sarah, I’ll take Ben.”

  Brad pulled his son out of his seat. “Dane, I’ve got you. Are you ready to visit a new place?”

  “Daddy, I want Mommy,” Dane demanded as he reached for Shinny.

  “I don’t know. Mommy might have to work. She has her work clothes on like your Uncle Connor.” Brad looked at Shinny and saw silver flashes in her eyes; he wondered what it meant this time.

  “I can take Dane,” Shinny said, reaching for Dane.

  Brad was reluctant to hand Dane over to Shinny, wondering what he was going to do other than carry bags. He passed Dane to her. “Alright, just let me know if you need to report somewhere and I’ll take over.”

  Shinny smiled sadly at him as she held her son. “Thanks.”

  Connor stepped into the main cabin area and picked up Ben. He looked around and confirmed that everyone was ready to disembark the vehicle. Moving toward the door, he gestured a command to open the door. He looked at his son. “Ben, are you ready to meet some new friends?” Ben, still very sleepy, snuggling against his father nodded a yes. Connor stepped out of the vehicle with Nan and Shinny following, carrying the other two children.

  Brad felt like the odd man out. He had accepted that much of it was his own doing. As he stepped out of the alien craft, he wondered whether this might be the first and last time he would get to visit the future. He decided, then, to take in as much as possible. Ahead, two columns of CIG’s Fleet personnel lined up forming a cordon leading toward a door outside the room they were in. To Brad, it was a strange sight. The cordon of CIG personnel reminded him of Connor and Shinny thirteen years ago, tall, fit, attractive and no one looking any older than sixteen despite their various uniforms. It made him think of what a Star Trek movie set might look like with all the different varieties of humanoids. So not only was he the odd man out, he was also going to be the old guy out, since all of them were probably participating in CIG’s rejuvenation program.

  Admiral Griken walked over to Connor and bowed his head. As much as Brad hadn’t liked the guy, at least he was a familiar face. They seemed to be having a private conversation; Brad couldn’t hear what Griken was saying. A young male in a blue tunic walked over to Connor and bowed his head and then took Ben from his arms. Brad was annoyed he wasn’t asked, as he was Ben’s uncle – at least as far as Ben was concerned. Standing there waiting for something to happen, Brad looked around the room at the other vehicles. As soon as it was clear he would be allowed to walk around on his own, his first stop would be this room to take a closer look at the odd-looking machines. He was thinking about other things he might be interested in visiting when he noticed his family had started walking toward the door and were already about fifty feet ahead of him. Brad picked up his pace and followed them. The uniformed personnel bowed their heads as Connor passed them. Ahead, Griken was escorting his family through the door and Brad picked up his pace again to catch up. By the time Brad passed through the door, Shinny and Nan were walking in one direction with the blue tunic staff member holding Ben while Connor and Griken walked in another direction with several other similarly attired personnel. Following Connor would probably be more interesting than following Nan and Shinny. He walked at a brisk pace trying to catch up
but he slammed into an invisible wall with the left side of his body. “Ouch, what the hell?” he barked as he stopped to touch the invisible barrier. He could not see it, but damn, it felt as if he just walked into a glass wall.

  The group in front of him stopped and faced him. Connor talked briefly to the men next to him and then walked toward Brad with one of the boys. “Brad, why did you follow us? This is a restricted area.”

  “No one has said anything to me as far as where I am supposed to go or what I am to do.” The kid next to Connor had a look of surprise, followed by embarrassment; worrying Brad he might have broken protocol. Whether or not he broke protocol, he had wrongly assumed the Connor’s friend would have free reign of the station, allowing him to follow Connor. He admonished himself for not slowing down and thinking this through. Logically, the admirals would have unfettered access and a visitor would have limitations.

  “Brad, I’m sorry, I didn’t forget you. There are a number of issues I need to catch up on before Shinny and I leave with Griken. Technician Walenash will escort you to medical. As soon as you arrive, they will implant the chip. Afterward a team will meet with you to discuss joining the Fleet, if you are still interested. I’ll join you as soon as I can.”

  Brad was disappointed his best friend wouldn’t join him but understood that as a visitor, he would need an escort until they decided he wouldn’t be a security risk. Between Connor’s position in the Fleet, the changing dynamics of their friendship and the strained relationship with his wife, Brad felt rather lonely and unsettled. “I understand. I’ll see you later.”

  Connor turned away and returned to the group he had just left.

  Brad looked at the kid in front of him. “Lead the way, because I am completely lost. I don’t think I could even make it back to the aircraft we came in.”