Caretaker

by Josi Russell

  “So it sounds like everything’s fine,” Ethan said. “Why am I here at all?”

  “I wanted to prepare you. You’re something of a celebrity on the planet. They’re going to be making all kinds of offers. Don’t be surprised if they want you to be president.”

  “You’re joking.”

  Reagan shook his head. “And there’s something else. I brought you here to ask you a question.” Reagan’s eyes suddenly shifted and he fixed his gaze on the table. His shoulders slumped a bit.

  “What is it, general?”

  Reagan took a deep breath. “Do you know where my daughter is?”

  The question hit Ethan like a punch in the stomach. “What do you mean?”

  “There’s no sign of her.”

  Ethan felt sick. He put his spinning head in his hands for a moment.

  Suddenly, the air around them exploded with sound. Ethan whirled toward the wall of windows that faced the hallway. There, pounding on the glass with both fists, was Aria.

  “Let me in!” she shouted. Her face was red and her chest was heaving. She’d obviously run here.

  Behind her stood two helpless-looking soldiers, obviously seeking direction from the general inside the room.

  “I want to talk to my husband!” Aria shouted. “Open the door!”

  The general stood. “I guess she’s not resting.” He nodded at the soldiers and they keyed a code into the door.

  The plate of glass slid open and Aria threw herself into the room and into Ethan’s arms. “They told me I had to rest. They said I couldn’t leave, that I’d never find you anyway. I said ‘Watch me.’”

  In spite of himself, Ethan smiled. “I’ll bet you did.”

  Aria pulled away and looked him in the eye. “What is going on? Is all that stuff in the video true?”

  He nodded.

  “So you really saved us all?”

  Ethan shrugged and drew her close to him. “I was only thinking about saving you.”

  Her eyes searched his for a moment, then she looked questioningly at General Reagan.

  He smiled and extended his hand. “I’m Phillip Reagan. Your husband is a hero, young lady.”

  She smiled at him. “I’m Aria.”

  Ethan leaned on his wife, feeling very tired. “Are you sure she’s not here?”

  The general shook his head, and Ethan saw a great sadness in his eyes. “We’ve looked everywhere.”

  Suddenly Aria flinched almost imperceptibly under Ethan’s arm. His attention was immediately drawn to her.

  “Are you alright?”

  She began to answer, but her face contorted with pain, and she bent over.

  Reagan stepped forward swiftly and steadied them both, pulling a chair around for her with his free hand. She relaxed a bit as she sat down, and he looked at the young couple for a moment.

  “We should get you both to your home. Our business can wait till you’ve rested a while.”

  Ethan looked at him and then back to his wife. He nodded. “Let me get her home.”

  When Aria seemed steady, the two men helped her out of the chair and down the long corridor outside the glass room. They turned out of the corridor into a wide lobby, where the walls were hung with burgundy tapestries. It was filled with people. When they saw Ethan, they turned toward him. A cheer went up, and they moved forward as one.

  General Reagan stepped up. “People, please,” he said loudly, “Mr. Bryant and his wife are tired. She needs to rest. We are taking them to their new home now, but we’ll arrange for Mr. Bryant to speak to you all when he’s had some rest. Please.”

  The people, smiling and waving at Ethan, stepped back respectfully. As he passed, they patted his back, touched his arms and hair, and spoke gentle words of appreciation.

  The ride in the hover car was a blur. Before they knew it, the hover car stopped and Ethan saw, for the first time, the little blue cottages from the brochures.

  “Ethan,” Aria said softly, “they’re beautiful!”

  Ethan felt a subtle apprehension as he looked at them. Each had a small yard with a garden in front. Each had a lovely little rounded door with a window set in it. The general helped them carefully into the house, and Ethan felt a rush of relief when he saw that the interior was unlike the prison houses on Beta Alora. Where those had been cold and clear, these were warm and homey. They felt like new construction, but they also had subtle flaws that lent a distinct air of humanness to the structures.

  The men laid Aria down in the master bedroom and closed the door softly.

  Before he left, Reagan gave Ethan his communicator code and shook his hand. “Thank you for what you did, son. You saved them when I couldn’t.”

  Ethan nodded. “About Kaia—”

  Reagan stopped him. “Call me when you’ve had some rest. I’m going now to keep looking.”

  Ethan’s head felt foggy as he watched the general go. Kaia. Missing. The thought of the many years that separated them made him feel dizzy. Where could she be?

  And Aria. The memory of her flinching in pain drew him to her. He opened the door softly and found her asleep, the covers pulled over her. As he looked around the room, Ethan fought a wave of panic. It was so similar to the cottages on Beta Alora. He forced himself to see the differences. Here, the chair, the dresser, the floors, all felt warm and imperfect and cozy. On the dresser were the boxes containing their belongings from Earth. He crossed and opened them, pulling out the letters and photos, the baseball glove and Aria’s wheat.

  Ethan sat heavily on the bed next to her. She looked so much like she had for all these years, sleeping, unaware of his turmoil. Yet nothing separated them now. Nothing ever could again. He reached out and touched her cheek. Her green eyes opened and fell on the sheaf of wheat in his hand.

  “It made it! All these years! Is the hermetically sealed sample still in there, too?”

  Ethan nodded. “All safe.”

  She reached out and took his hand. “You kept us safe.”

  He glanced away, not knowing how to feel, and felt her squeeze his hand.

  “It’s amazing, Ethan,” she said softly.

  “It sure is.” Suddenly, he leaned down and kissed Aria, fiercely. She pulled him close and kissed him back, then pulled him into an embrace.

  “We are here, honey,” she said, “and we’re okay.”

  Chapter 40

  The windows were dark when Ethan began to awaken. He knew where he was, knew what was happening, but he still couldn’t make sense of something. A stray, upsetting thought pulled at the corner of his consciousness.

  Aria slept softly beside him. He put an arm over her and pulled himself close to her. As he was drifting back to sleep, the thought hit him with powerful clarity.

  Quickly, he rose and slipped out into the chilly night. He oriented himself by looking for the tall, straight shafts that he knew connected the receiving center with the spaceport above and headed down the street toward them.

  No one else was up this early. He crossed a wide meadow and three more streets before seeing a hover cab on the curb. Gratefully, he caught it and rode to the receiving center in silence.

  Once there, he walked into the lobby. The crowds were gone, and only a sleepy staff member manned the wide desk there.

  “Mr. Bryant,” he said, surprised. “How can I help you?”

  “I need to get back to my ship.”

  “Yes, sir.” The attendant keyed in some information. “Just in time. They finished up with it last night and were going to undock it first thing this morning. You should have a couple hours or so before they get here, though. It’s on elevator seventeen.”

  Ethan, with a renewed energy, sprinted to the elevator. All the way up, images of Kaia’s face as she said good-bye flashed in his mind. Getting out at the spaceport, he ran down the long hall and up the ramp into the hold.

  The doors to the main part of the ship were closed, and impatiently he barked the order for them to open. He breathed a sigh of relief that h
is clearance still worked as they slid open and the computer gave him an update on the state of the ship: Docked. Empty.

  Ethan wasn’t so sure. He broke into a run. In the secondary nav room, Ethan dropped to his knees. The panel came easily away under his hand, and he pulled himself quickly through the hole.

  And there she was. Kaia. His Kaia. Sleeping curled in the corner of the tertiary nav room. The sight of her took his breath away.

  Her face, in sleep, was soft. The deep wrinkles around her eyes lay still. Her hair, once the color of the night sky, had faded to the color of the stars, but it was still short, and she still retained that ethereal grace. He found himself touching her face, softly, and she opened her eyes.

  A smile touched her lips. “Ethan.”

  He tried to speak, but felt his voice stop on her name and simply pulled her frail body into his arms. They sat, holding each other.

  When he finally spoke, he was weeping. “Why? Why, why?” The single word was all he could say.

  She was weeping, too, but she responded in a stronger voice. “You know why, Ethan.” She pulled back and her fingers traced his face. “We made it. We made it.”

  His eyes moved back and forth across her features. She was so familiar to him but so different. “But your life, Kaia. Your whole life!”

  She looked down then, and her fingers moved to her own face. “Yes.”

  Ethan knew then that he would carry the weight of her sacrifice with him for the rest of his life. He saw himself at her age and knew that even then he would still love her for it.

  She smiled, and he felt a thought reaching its warm way into his mind. Their minds were still bridged, and he saw a few glimpses of her life on the ship as he’d slept. He knew, without asking, how those years had been for her.

  They embraced once more.

  Moments passed, and then he asked, “Why are you in here?”

  She drew away from him and seemed unsure for a moment. She looked, then, like the old woman that she was. “I—I don’t know what to expect. I don’t—I haven’t seen anyone, talked to anyone, since you. I—I don’t know how to walk back into the world.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “I’m scared, Ethan.”

  Ethan straightened his shoulders. “Me, too, a little. Come on.” He held out a hand toward her. “Let’s go together.”

  Timidly, she reached toward him, letting him help her out through the panel. Together they walked down the long corridor toward the new world.

  * * *

  Ethan heard the crowds before the elevator doors opened. They were even louder than yesterday, and he expected to see the lobby packed again with people. When they finally reached the tapestried room, however, it was nearly empty. He glanced at the front desk attendant, who peered guiltily back at him.

  “I’m sorry, sir,” the attendant said sheepishly. “I only messaged a couple of friends that you were here.”

  Ethan looked out the wide glass door and saw a huge crowd. Darkness surrounded them, but they were bathed in the bright lights at the front of the spaceport. They held signs and banners with his and Kaia’s names on them. They cheered even louder when they saw the pair reach the door.

  The doors opened and he held tightly to Kaia’s hand. He had explained to her what he knew as they’d made their way from the ship, but he hadn’t expected this. He glanced tentatively at her and found that she was smiling broadly. As he looked back at the faces in the crowd, he saw why. Most of these people were their passengers.

  As they stepped to the top of the wide stairs that separated them, the cheers were deafening. People climbed to meet them, and they embraced their fellow passengers. These were no strangers, but the people whose lives had hung in the balance as Ethan and Kaia had fought the battles on Beta Alora so many years ago.

  Over and over the passengers thanked them, hugged them, kissed their cheeks. They wept, cheered, and thanked them again.

  The two were caught up in the joy of seeing their charges and didn’t notice at first the quiet figure that pushed his way through the shadows to the front of the crowd and stood watching them. Ethan was the first to see him. He gently laid a hand on Kaia’s shoulder and turned her toward her father.

  For a moment, the two stood quietly looking at each other. The crowd stilled instinctively and respectfully. General Reagan’s eyes were fixed on his daughter. Suddenly, she crossed the distance between them and threw her arms around his neck. Tears slipped out of the general’s closed eyes and ran down his cheeks. His lips were moving, but at first Ethan couldn’t hear what he was saying. Then it registered. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

  Then Ethan heard Kaia’s voice, one word, gentle as a bird. “Daddy.”

  Reagan pulled back, keeping the frail old woman in his arms. “I’m sorry, sweetheart,” he said again.

  “I know. It’s alright.”

  Reagan shook his head sharply. “It’s not. You can be angry at this whole mess. I know what you wanted. You and David. You wanted a life. You wanted a family–”

  Unexpectedly, Kaia smiled. She turned and gestured at the crowd. “But look around, Daddy. These are my passengers.” Taking her father’s hand, she led him to the Karthans, a young family whose four-year-old boy was watching them with wide brown eyes. “This is Alexander. He loves to draw and he wants to be a teacher just like his dad when he grows up.”

  The little boy smiled widely. “And I want to go out in space again.”

  “Oh,” Kaia said. “That wasn’t in your profile. That’s new, huh?”

  Little Alexander nodded.

  “Well, I’m sure you’ll get to.” Kaia pulled her father gently to a couple standing quietly. “These two travelled together all the way across the sky just so they could get married on Minea and begin their new life together here.” The couple smiled at her as she pulled him on to others. After several quick introductions, she turned back to her father. She swept her free hand in an arc, encompassing the throng. “See, I’ve had a life. I have a family.”

  Chapter 41

  In the pre-dawn chill, Ethan, Kaia, and the General stepped out of the hover cab in front of Ethan’s little blue cottage. At the window, Ethan saw the outline of his wife against the yellow light of their kitchen window. He almost ran up the path to the door. They were in each other’s arms immediately, and they turned together as Kaia and the General entered.

  Ethan pulled his wife forward and introduced her.

  “Kaia, this is Aria.”

  Kaia smiled. “I know.”

  Suddenly, Aria moved forward and threw her arms around Kaia. “Thank you for helping him. Thank you for getting him safely back to me.”

  Kaia put a hand on Aria’s shoulder. “You’re welcome. How are you feeling?”

  “More pains today. But they’re not regular yet.”

  Ethan felt Kaia’s concern before she spoke it. “Sit down. You should rest.”

  It was then that he noticed how weary Kaia herself looked. “You, too,” he said to her.

  “I was just thinking so myself.” She turned to the General. “We should go.” He nodded as Kaia hugged Aria warmly and then put her arms around Ethan. “You two take care of each other.”

  Ethan felt his breath catch. “But Kaia, I can’t let you — how will you —”

  “I’ll be fine, Ethan. I’ve gotten along on my own for nearly fifty years, remember?” She smiled. “I’m ready for a little rest, too.” Ethan nodded, and Kaia took Reagan’s arm. Tears stung Ethan’s eyes briefly as another door closed between them.

  Ethan turned to see Aria’s eyes shining with tears. He laid a hand on her shoulder, and she held his eyes with hers.

  “Aria,” he said softly, wiping the corners of his eyes. “Here. Sit down.”

  She shook her head. “Ethan, I’ve realized something.”

  He had dreaded this moment since he’d first seen Kaia. He steeled himself as Aria went on.

  “You’ve seen things I can’t even imagine. You’re different, Ethan. Bu
t I’m not. You might be very, very different.”

  He ached to tell her he wasn’t, that he was the same as when they’d left Earth, but it wasn’t true, and she’d never allowed him to deceive himself.

  He spoke quietly. “I am different. In a hundred ways, Aria. Does that change things?”

  Aria grabbed his hands and stared into his eyes with new intensity. She was searching for words. “No, Ethan. I love you still. I love you the same as I did the day before yesterday, back on Earth. I can love the new you. But I’m scared that the new you . . . might not be so excited . . . about the old me.” She paused, playing with his fingers, not looking at him. Her voice got softer. “You’ve shared so much with her. I see how you feel about her. I see what she sacrificed. I’m glad she was with you—that you didn’t have to go through it all alone. I love her for that, and I love you. But I don’t know . . . how it changes us. I just feel like this was supposed to be our adventure, and you’ve already had your adventure. I—I slept through the whole thing.”

  He loved her for saying it, for opening the door so they could talk about it. He loved that she knew him well enough to know that he was not the same. He loved that he didn’t have to pretend to be.

  He took a deep breath and then laid a hand on her stomach. “Aria, this is our adventure. Everything I did—everything she did—we did to get me to this moment.” He leaned forward, asking permission with his eyes. She hesitated and then kissed him carefully. As they pulled apart, the baby under his hand kicked. Ethan smiled, knowing, finally, that he had brought his family safely through the stars. And they could begin again here, in this small, safe place.

  Aria stepped back. “It will be an adventure. There’s a whole new planet out their waiting for us.”

  Ethan nodded. “Do you want to take a walk?” he asked, feeling a cool breeze calling to him from the open window of their bedroom. Through it, he could see the tall trees of Minea as morning began to break.

  She shook her head. “If I went along, you’d have to roll me down the trail. And I don’t want to start those contractions up again. You go, and bring me back some leaves to look at. I’ve got to get started figuring out the plant life here.”