Returning Home

by Mary Carmen

  This new law was effective on January 1, 2091, just a month after the proclamation. Many give this law credit for the final outcome of the Great War.

  Military Moves

  Mr. Mipcomp was anxious to do something to advance the action, but he certainly was not sure about his next move. One recommendation was that General Nddmemmap be relieved of command. The battle of Apvievan was the last straw, and Mr. Mipdomp acted on February 2, 2091. General Nddmemmap was replaced by General Ancsote Cusptife.

  Quickly General Cusptife moved his forces to a location just south of the border between the Assemblage and the Alliance, to Gsefesidltcush. The forces of the Alliance had been bivouacked at that location for several weeks, and they defeated General Cusptife’s troops in a series of attacks.

  Almost immediately Mr. Mipdomp replaced General Cusptife with General Koteqj Jooles. One of the first recommendations made by General Jooles was that he needed more soldiers.

  The war efforts had been mainly run, to that point, with the soldiers on active duty when it started. Some men and women had volunteered, increasing the numbers on active duty, but these volunteers had not exceeded the numbers of soldiers who had been killed or maimed. If Mr. Mipdome was serious about the war, General Jooles argued, the war needed to be staffed for success.

  By June of 2091 Mr. Mipdomp was ready to act. He issued a law requiring all people between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five, except for pregnant women, to be ready to be called for military service. Since the country had very exact census records, the government knew exactly who these people were.

  There was one unusual part of the law: anyone who was called could pay a substitute to take his or her place. Rich people could avoid the war service for their entire families by paying a large fee to the government.

  Within a week terrible riots broke out in the neighborhoods in New Philadelphia where people lived who could not afford the fee for the substitute. One military division, about to be deployed to an Alliance district, was, instead, called to quell the riots.

  Taking Stock

  By mid-2091 I was as happy as I ever would be. I had a wonderful wife, a nice family, and an interesting job. I was fifty-one years old, and I looked forward to at least another thirty-nine years as an American on Octula. I was healthy and energetic.

  Anna was my greatest joy. That year she was thirty-four years old and as beautiful as the day we were married. She greeted me warmly every day, and she came to my bed in my wing every night.

  Len was seventy-one that year, and he remained in good health. He loved his grandchildren above all others, and I think he tolerated my quiet and studious manner because I was their father. Certainly he was a wonderful friend to me in every way.

  Louella remained as she had looked when she returned from Solues the prior year. She never aged after that day, and she never regained her warm, bawdy humor. Anna and I honored her as we should honor Anna’s mother, but we wondered who she was.

  Franklin turned eleven in April of that year. He was good student and had a curiosity about nearly everything. He was not a good sibling to the younger children, but his grandfather was quick to scuttle any of our complaints about his selfishness.

  Eliza turned nine in November of that year. She was our best student, always interested in learning whatever she could about history and literature. I often found her alone in my library, sitting among the precious books.

  Morris turned seven in August of that year. He was our best athlete and the friendliest person in the family. Anna just adored him, and I liked him, too.

  Mattie turned five in December of 2091. She still looked like Anna, and she still was Len’s favorite. She was interested in playing card games and board games, and her grandfather told me she frequently won.

  My job was becoming more interesting every day. The work to manage the budgets for the government and for the military units was demanding, but I enjoyed figuring out ways to find resources so we could keep goods and personnel moving. I also enjoyed working with the various personalities in our office and in Mr. Mipdomp’s office.

  Miss Worrell Speaks

  The children were progressing well with their education, according to our excellent governess, Miss Worrell. She asked for a meeting with Anna and me in late 2091.

  “We need to make plans for the next several years,” she began. “Franklin needs to enroll in high school on Earth, and Eliza needs to take the advanced test for twelve-year-olds.”

  She was nervous and paced back and forth in front of the northern fireplace in my library.

  Anna asked, “The one Franklin passed last year? Can’t you administer it to her?”

  Miss Worrell answered, “No, this is a special test to prepare the American government for her as a college-bound student. This is given only on American soil.”

  Anna shouted, “You mean Franklin has missed this test? How can we make it up?”

  Miss Worrell stayed nervous. She replied, “Franklin needs to attend high school before he can be considered as a candidate for college. Eliza will be able to pass the test, and this will mean she will have different options for high school.”

  Anna kept pressing. “You mean Eliza is smarter than Franklin?”

  “It is not a question of being smarter. It is a question of being a better student. Of having a facility for scholarship,” Miss Worrell said.

  “What about Franklin’s high school?” I asked.

  Miss Worrell turned to me and said, “Yes, we need to make plans now. He needs to return to Earth for four years of high school, probably in June of 2093.”

  Anna sighed with relief. “That’s another couple of years. No need to do anything now.”

  “Not if we want him to attend a good school,” Miss Worrell told us. “We need to apply to schools now so we can make arrangements for setting up a home for him on Earth.”

  I was stunned. I had assumed Miss Worrell would be able to handle all the high school subjects, but she assured us this was not possible. High school students studied too much higher mathematics and advanced science for her to be able to coach our children. Miss Worrell had an advanced degree from Oxford in history, and she believed she could also handle languages. Mathematics and science at the high school level were not her strong suits.

  Anna and I asked Miss Worrell for a week or two to consider our options. Certainly I wanted to talk to Len about his ideas.

  Plans for High School

  Len, of course, had been giving Franklin’s education some thought.

  His plan was not simple. Under his scheme, he would buy a house near an excellent high school and the children would go there to live while they studied. If any child wanted to go on to attend college, another domestic arrangement would be worked out.

  Also part of his plan was that Miss Worrell would go with Franklin to the new house, and one of Anna’s brothers would be on Earth at all times to live in the house and conduct the family’s business from there. Up until this time the family did not need to have one member on Earth or on Octula at all times, so this would be a new wrinkle to the travel schedule.

  Miss Worrell was not anxious to leave Octula, but she understood she could spend the five years on Earth until both Franklin and Eliza were finished with high school and then she would be free to return to Octula or anywhere else she wanted to go.

  Meanwhile, Miss Worrell said she had a sister and a brother who were interested in brief stays on Octula, and she asked us to consider one of them for the governess vacancy.

  Complicating this set of problems was the fact that Anna was again pregnant. At first, Anna was determined to accompany Franklin to Earth to get him established in the new school. After we found she was pregnant, she became very emotional, insisting Franklin delay his admission to high school until she was free to travel with him. I pointed out that day would be a couple of years in the future since the new baby would require his mother at home.

  Len was not in favor of delaying Franklin’s schooling. He di
d not want Franklin to be held up for any reason. I agreed with Len, even though Anna was in tears nearly every day about the matter.

  “You need to trust your brothers,” I told her. “One of them will always be there, and Miss Worrell will make sure Franklin makes a satisfactory transition to a high school with other children. And, Anna, our younger children need you here.”

  “Miss Worrell won’t fight for his rights, I know,” Anna shouted. “She wants him to be just a happy child. She doesn’t want him to be special.”

  I sighed. “Anna, look at the test scores. He has scored near the very top for his age. Miss Worrell has taken great care with his education. She will certainly continue to do so,” I reasoned.

  The date for the departure came too soon. We decided both Franklin and Eliza should go to Earth with Miss Worrell, and Len arranged passage on a craft that departed on October 15, 2092. Anna’s brother Sam had taken charge of buying a property on Earth in the town in Vermont where St. Paul’s School had moved during the terrible flooding in the 2020s. The children could either enroll at St. Paul’s School or at the town’s semipublic high school.

  Anna’s pregnancy was not easy. She, of course, was well over thirty years of age, and she was so upset over the departure of the two older children that she really could not rest. Our wonderful doctor took Clymer on June 2, 2092, and the little fellow bravely struggled for a week before he died. It was a sad moment in a year that would have too many farewells.

  Miss Ruth Worrell arrived on Octula in August of 2092, and she and her sister worked with the children until the time came for the trip to Earth.

  We all went to the spaceport, the same one where I had arrived nearly fifteen years before. We saw the cabins Len had reserved for Miss Martha Worrell, Franklin, and Eliza, and I was so happy to see they would be traveling first class. The spacecraft was even more luxurious than the one in which I had come to Octula, and our three travelers had adjoining cabins on the top deck. Franklin was jumping with joy at the thoughts of the voyage, and Eliza was looking into every room with her usual curiosity. If they saw the tears constantly flowing from Len’s and Anna’s eyes, they did not mention it.

  After their departure, Len redoubled his work on a swimming pool for my wing. He told me he believed Morris had the makings of an Olympic champion, and the Octula team would need a good swimmer in 2100.

  Each of your children is different, and your job is to make each child successful at what he or she has been created to experience. If your child is shy, encourage those activities and professions where his shyness will be an asset. Do not encourage that child to be more gregarious or to emulate his unreserved sibling. God is counting on your help so It can experience a life of reticence.

  Another Victory for the Alliance

  In January of 2093, just after Franklin and Eliza left for Earth and while they were still en route, the battle of Djapdemmostwimme took place in a town just south of the border between the two warring countries.

  At that time Mr. Mipdomp was still giving his unqualified support to General Jooles.

  There was much speculation in our Commerce Department that General Jooles was not much of a leader. He did not attack, he did not plan, and he did not work tirelessly.

  He liked to talk, and Mr. Mipdomp liked to listen. My colleagues were certain General Jooles was an excellent Monday-morning quarterback, with many ideas about how situations in the past could have been modified to turn them into victories. Certainly Mr. Mipdomp wanted to hear about victories.

  By the start of 2093 General Jooles was still in charge of the army of the Assemblage, even though the war was not the easy victory Mr. Mipdomp had expected.

  On January 15, 2093, General Jooles led a large division of troops to attack General Mee, who had remained near Djapdemmostwimme after the battle of Gsefesidltcush. General Jooles divided his troops so that General Mee was caught in the middle. Unexpectedly General Mee sent some troops south with another general and, with his small unit of remaining soldiers, attacked.

  General Jooles was stunned. He retreated.

  On the next day General Mee and his troops rejoined his larger unit, and the combined army drove General Jooles even further back. On the third and last day of the battle of Djapdemmmostwimme, General Hooles decided to withdraw from the area.

  Although the troops of the Alliance were victorious, they suffered more casualties in that battle than in any other victory.

  The news reached Mr. Mipdomp, and he was livid.

  Letters Home

  At that same time Franklin and Eliza were with Miss Martha Worrell in the spacecraft, on their way to Earth.

  In 2093 messages from a spacecraft to Octula took three days. Anna had extracted a promise from the children that they would write every day, and Eliza was very faithful about keeping the promise. Certainly we heard from Miss Worrell at least twice a day, mostly brief messages about what the children had had to eat in the dining room.

  Eliza described the flight as a series of daily adventures. She wrote about the other passengers in turn, naming each person and describing his or her profession and what clothes he or she wore to dinner. She wrote about games in the recreation room and contests in the exercise room. She wrote about the books in the ship’s library and which ones she had read.

  Franklin’s infrequent messages were mostly about card games in the lounge. He, being his mother’s son, had won some Universal Gold and a kiss on the cheek from a pretty woman during a poker game. I never knew how much money various members of our family had pressed upon him at his departure, but his messages assured us he had won more than he had spent.

  Anna read each message over and over. She wept and attempted to blame me for allowing them to leave. I kissed her gently and went back to my book.

  The Vermont House

  On February 1, 2093, Sam met Miss Worrell, Franklin, and Eliza at the large spaceport in Albany, New York. The trip had been exciting, each person wrote to us to say, but uneventful. The landing was within four minutes of its schedule.

  Sam, who had visited our children on three separate trips to Octula, gathered the many pieces of luggage and parcels and led the party to a long limousine, driven by an American of African ancestry. The children starred at her, and she must have starred back at their pale faces.

  From Albany the limousine drove to Montpelier, Vermont, and parked in front of a beautiful, large house in the American colonial design. This was to be the children’s home for their high school years.

  Eliza immediately sent me a drawing of the exterior of the house, pointing out the entrances where the luggage had been taken in and where the grocery deliveryman entered. She also sent me, a few days later, a very detailed drawing of the interior, complete with measurements.

  I could tell Len had spared no expense. There was no kaleidoscope on the cupola, but Sam, Miss Worrell, and each child had a complete suite, with the same arrangement as the suites in the children’s wing in Octula. There was a large library and a small indoor swimming pool. On the first floor were spacious quarters for two live-in housekeepers.

  The first week was spent in quiet rest. The children were certainly not used to the gravity on Earth, even though the spacecraft had adjusted the gravity gradually during the flight to allow the passengers to acclimate themselves to Earth’s stronger pull. During the second week Sam allowed the children to go out for four hours at a time to see the sights.

  A snowstorm came on the tenth night, and our children were allowed to frolic in the yard, something we never allowed on Octula due to the bitter cold and the winds. The snow was damp and allowed good snowmen to be created. Neighbors came to help with the snowmen and stayed for apple cider. Some stayed to swim in the pool.

  All this news came excitedly from Eliza in daily messages.

  Miss Worrell also wrote every day. She discussed her efforts to gain admittance for Franklin into St. Paul’s School and that school’s need for a new gymnasium.

  Franklin wrote i
nfrequently, but he always sounded happy with his new life and his home. He discussed the sporting events he and Eliza had attended with Sam, but his most enthusiastic words were reserved for the Miniature Schnauzer puppy Sam had found for them. Franklin named the puppy Siegfried.

  Both children mentioned, again and again, the amount of food they could eat. There was no rationing of food in America in 2093.

  The children both took the Private School Aptitude Test. Franklin scored very well, and we were hopeful St. Paul’s would welcome him. Eliza scored at the ninety-ninth percentile.

  Anna poured over the messages, printing them on expensive paper and pasting them into a leather-bound scrapbook. Sometimes she would call me at the office to read a passage from Miss Worrell or Eliza, and sometimes she would run to show a message to the alien she called Mother. And, by the time the children were making snowmen, Anna had stopped crying.