“I’ve got tears on your blues,” Noah said, trying to brush them off of the general’s shoulders.
“It doesn’t matter, son,” the general said. “I’d like to come by later, if that’s OK with you, after all of this is over.”
“I’d appreciate it, sir,” Noah said before the general stepped to Esther, who almost threw herself into his hug.
The line of worthies stretched out, and Noah realized that he was stuck there in the front of the nave. Without a casket or urn, they hadn’t even had a chance to follow them out and then have the receiving line outside the entrance. Once the chairman had started at the pew, everyone else took her cue.
“Mr. Lysander,” a big gunnery sergeant said as he stepped up.
“Come on, Gunny. You can call me Noah.”
Noah had known Gunnery Sergeant Hans Çağlar for most of his life. The big man had been his father’s everything-guy, from bodyguard to confidant. It hadn’t been clear that he’d be free to come to the ceremony—after the incident, he’d been grilled by the FOI incessantly. He’d been the last one to see Noah’s parents alive, and he’d arranged for the yacht to take them home to Prophesy.
Noah rather resented the gunny, and he resented the attention his father gave the man. But he was as positive as he could be that he did not have a hand in his father’s assassination. The man was too dedicated, to worshipping of his father to be part of a plot.
“Very well, Noah. You have my deepest condolences on your loss.”
It might be more of loss for you, he thought, softening his feelings.
“I know you loved my father, and he loved you. I am glad that you’ve always been there for him.”
The gunny sighed, then hesitated as if he wanted to say something else. Instead, he nodded and said, “Thank you, sir.”
He stepped to greet Esther, but turned back and said, “He was very proud of you, sir.”
Noah didn’t know if it was true or not, but the tears blinded him as the next person stepped up to greet him.
Chapter 3
Esther
“Does it have those rosehips in it?” Esther asked as Noah handed her the cup of tea.
“Fab rosehips. No real ones here.”
She took a tentative sip. It wasn’t bad. Even with a fabricator, Noah knew his way around a kitchen. She watched General Simone take a sip of his cup and then nod his approval.
It had been a long day. After the memorial, there had been a reception at the Officer’s Club, and it had been full of well-wishers. At least the press had been relegated to a few camcordermen and still holographers—no journalists to keep asking questions. Marine after Marine had come up, though, relating stories of serving with their father, and Esther had felt obligated to hear them all out. She’d lost track of Noah during the afternoon and evening, but she’d sworn that a few times, he saw him listening to the same men who’d already regaled her with their experiences.
Finally, the base sergeant major had brought the reception to a close. Esther had been exhausted, more mentally than physically, and a scheduled trip to the Globe and Laurel to honor their father’s OIC[1] box was delayed. She and Noah were driven to the Wolters House, the newly re-christened visiting VIP quarters, named for Major Melissa “Missy” Wolters, the only Marine to be awarded two Federation Novas before her father was awarded his second. A few of the old salts thought the re-naming was bowing to political correctness now that women were being allowed to serve in the Corps again, but did the old name, “The Blue House,” have any historical significance? The Marine Corps loved tradition, and the new name not only carried that, it was a not-so-subtle reminder that women had served admirably before.
She’d just wanted to shower, get in a fuzzy robe, and collapse in one of the overstuffed chairs that adorned most of the common rooms, so she’d been a little upset that Noah had invited the general to join them. But she couldn’t stay that way for long. The general was an old family friend, and he was a comforting presence.
“Do you want something to eat?” Noah asked. “Just fab food. There’s nothing in the cooler.”
“You don’t have to go to any trouble. I can call for something,” General Simone said.
“Trouble?” Noah said with a huff. “Like I said, it’s fab food. I’ll just dial it in and press the start button. No trouble at all.”
“Wait, Noah. Take a seat. I wanted to talk to you, and with General Simone here, I might as well get his opinion, too.”
Noah took a seat, folding his legs up underneath him as the general looked up waiting for her to go on.
“It’s about the future. My future.”
“You’ve got another two semesters at the university, right?” the general asked. “I think that with your, uh, background, you can have your choice of almost anything. The chairman said she’s there for you, and I believe her. If you want any position in the government, I think she can swing, say, an internship anywhere. After that, it would be up to you, of course, but you’ve got the talent in you to achieve what you want.”
“She wants to be a professional etherball player,” Noah said.
“Really? I know you’re good, but that good? But I would imagine a few calls could get you a tryout, if that’s your goal.”
“It’s not that,” Esther said, marshaling her thoughts. “I’d like to play professionally, but to what end? I get a few years, if I even make a team, then that’s it. Etherballers are not known for longevity on the pitch.”
Noah looked up in surprise, and that gave Esther a sense of satisfaction. He usually knew what she wanted to do before she did herself.
“With dad, I mean, we had Ben, but he, you know. Dad really loved the Corps. And now, no Lysander in uniform—” she started rambling.
“You want to enlist!” Noah said, his mouth dropping open.
“Maybe. Yeah. I think so.”
“But you’ve never wanted to be in uniform.”
“I’m thinking now I might want it.”
“Well,” the general said. “I’d like to say I’m surprised, but really, I’m not. You have too much of your father in you. Your mother always saw it. Even I saw it. I think, with what’s happened, that it’s only now surfacing.”
“Are you sure?” Noah asked her.
“Not completely, no. I still have school, for one.”
“You could wait until after graduation and then see how you feel,” the general said in an even tone.
“If I do it, I want to do it now. Why wait?”
If she did wait, she was afraid something would come up and she’d never actually take the step.
“Are you doing this for you or for Dad?”
“I don’t know,” Esther said, trying to figure that out for herself.
“It’s kind of important, Ess. Dad’s dead. He’s not going to care one way or the other.”
“Noah’s right, Esther. I’d be proud of you if you enlisted. So would many people. But that’s not a good reason. You have to want to be a Marine. It has to be in your blood.”
“And not just Dad’s blood flowing through your veins,” Noah added.
“If you want, I can make some ca—”
“No! I mean, I don’t want any help. It’ll be bad enough with my father’s ghost hanging over everything I do, I don’t want some general making calls for me.”
“Ess, don’t make an emotional decision. Lord knows we’ve got enough emotions running around right now. Why don’t you finish school? Get your degree. And if you still think you want to enlist, heck, I’ll drive you to the recruitment center myself.”
Esther knew that was good advice. But when the idea hit her, it had grown stronger within her. The more she thought about it, the more she knew this was the right step. But small doubts nibbled at her consciousness. Was she reacting to the emotions of losing her parents? Was she doing this for her father?
“What about you?” she asked Noah. “What are you going to do now?”
“I was thinking about going
back to Prophesy,” he said.
“Prophesy? Why? You hate the place.”
“It might not be paradise, but I think I want to get to know the family. When mom left, I think that created an unintended wall between them and us. I’d like to bridge that wall and see just who our people are.”
Esther wasn’t terribly surprised. For such a nerd, Noah cared about people, and with their mother and father gone, it made sense that he reach out to create bonds with whatever family they had left.
She shifted her gaze to the general, who’d been sitting quietly and listening.
He caught her eyes and said, “That makes sense to me. Get your degree and then decide.”
She felt a small weight lift off her shoulders. The advice was sound, she knew. If she still felt this way after graduation, she could enlist, wait for the etherball draft, join a corporation, or even get a position in the government.
“OK, I’ll do that,” she said with conviction. “And, I guess I am a little hungry after all. Do you think the fab in this dump can whip up some decent shepherd’s pie?”
PROPHESY
Chapter 4
Noah
Esther finally came through arrivals, pulling what looked to be a brand new duckling. She immediately saw Noah waiting beyond the small barrier and raised a hand in greeting, a huge smile plastered over her face.
She navigated past the other passengers, cut through a reunited family, and threw her arms around his neck.
“Oh, it’s good to see you, little brother.”
Noah smiled at her familiar phrasing. She’d been born nine minutes before he was, and in the 21 years since then, she hadn’t let him forget it, despite the fact that he had a good 15 kilos on her.
“Good to see you, too. I’m still surprised that you wanted to come back here for this. You could have done it on Earth without spending a small fortune.”
“Yeah, I could have. But then how could you drive me?”
“Ha! You’re right. Earth would be a grubbing long trip just to keep my promise to my old sister.”
“I’ll forget the ‘old sister,’ but ‘grubbing?’”
Noah could feel his face reddening. “Grubbing” was his father’s go-to word, one the two of them thought rather backwoodish even if a bit endearing at the same time.
“It’s a Prophesy saying, you know. I guess after almost a year, the place is rubbing off on me.”
Esther pulled on his hand and made a show of inspecting his fingernails before saying, “I don’t see any farmer’s dirt there, so I guess you haven’t totally acclimated.”
Noah yanked his hand back and said, “There’re lots of different uses for ‘grubbing,’ you know. But you’re my sister, and this is a public place, so I’ll refrain.”
“Oh, you love me. You know you do,” she said as she gave him a big kiss on the cheek.
“So, is that all you have? One duckling? Who are you and what have you done with my sister?”
Esther was a clotheshorse, and together with her ever-present athletic gear, she usually maxed out with three large bags wherever she went. Hovering a few centimeters above the deck, the single mid-sized duckling couldn’t possibly hold enough for a normal person’s visit, much less Esther’s.
“I don’t plan on staying long.”
“I think Gamma might take issue with you on that, Ess. She’s already got dinners planned for a week, and you’re the star attraction.”
“Yeah, I figured she would, and that’s exactly why I won’t be staying long,” Esther said.
Noah looked sharply at her. Sometimes, she could be a little abrupt and self-centered. “Focused,” she called it. The entire extended family had felt the loss of their parents, and this was the first time since they died that they’d be able to see her. This might be a pain in the ass for her, but the family needed it.
“We’ll see about that. Let’s talk back at the farm. You know, you really need to spend some time with them.”
“Like you have?” she asked with more than a hint of sarcasm.
“Yes, like I have. They’ve been good to me, you know.”
“Well, that’s you. I don’t need a bunch of people I barely know beg me to tell them stories about Mom and Dad.”
Noah shook his head slightly, then to change the subject, said, “Let’s get out of here. It’s a good two hours to the farm.”
“Lead on, oh little brother of mine,” she said, but not before flicking the duckling’s eye on him and pressing the imprint.
“Too heavy for you?” he asked as he started off, the slightest tug confirming that the bag had imprinted on him and was obediently following.
He led Esther—and the duckling—out to the lot where he’d parked the hover, opening the trunk and loading the bag inside.
“Not too shabby,” she said, admiring the Hyundai Aster.
“Uncle Barret gave it to me,” he said as he got into the driver’s seat.
An Aster wasn’t a luxury hover, but it was far too expensive for an out-of-work young man to own.
“He ‘gave’ it to you? As in it’s yours?”
“No, but it’s mine while I’m here.”
“I guess it’s nice to have a rich uncle. I might have to look into that.”
“Navigation,” he said, activating the autodrive. “Take us to—”
“Wait, Noah. How far is it to the government center?”
“They still call it ‘Corporate Center,’ here. And from the farm? Driving? Still probably two hours. When it’s time, I think we can drive to Bounty, then take the maglev into Jacob Station. That will save us an hour.”
“I mean from here?”
“Here? The spaceport? I don’t know. An hour or hour-and-a-half? Why?”
“Because I’m thinking about going there now. I mean, why wait? I came all this way to do it here, so I might as well get it over with?”
“Really, Ess? Gamma’s probably got a feast laid out for lunch, and Auntie Lysa and some of the cousins will be there. And you want to go do it now?”
She shrugged, tapped her forefinger on the window, and then said, “I specifically asked for no reception, Noah. I can’t be responsible for that. I came to do this here because, well, you know . . . ”
“Because this is where Dad enlisted.”
“Well, yeah. It just seemed right.”
Esther put up a good front. She was the tough one, the one who could handle anything. But Noah knew she was still daddy’s little girl, and she missed him. He still thought her enlisting was to please their father, so it did make sense on some levels.
But she was also set in her ways, and if he wouldn’t take her, no doubt she’d get out of the hover and take the spaceport line downtown.
“OK, if you want, we can go to the Corporate Center now. I’ll call Gamma and ask her to delay lunch until . . .” he paused, blinking up the time on the Hyundai’s windshield display. “Two. I think we can make that. Deal? Straight to the farm after?”
“OK, deal. Straight to the farm after,” she said, and as he gave the autodrive their destination, muttered, “I still don’t know why I couldn’t stay at a hotel.”
Noah kept the conversation neutral during the drive, mostly on her last year at school and sports. Esther could talk for hours on almost anything if she were interested, so he mostly listened, adding in a few “uh-huh’s” when he thought it necessary.
He was getting a little nervous himself, which surprised him. There wasn’t any reason for that. An hour after leaving the spaceport, the Hyundai pulled up into the Corporate Center passenger drop-off.
The twins got out of the hover, and Noah instructed it to, “Park and stand by.”
He was anal enough to want to park it himself, to make sure it was in a good spot, but within the downtown loop, all parking was automated. He was tempted to pull the hover up on his PA and watch it, but he knew Esther would ride him mercilessly if she caught him.
It was mid-morning, before the lunch rush, but several f
ood-trailers were setting up, and the aroma of cooking filled the square. Food-trailers, which mostly served natural foods, had become a fad on Prophesy lately—only about 15 years after they’d made their comeback on Earth, Hiapo, and Initiation—and this was one fad to which Noah could heartily support. Fabricators were the choice of the masses, and they produced excellent food out of the algae and other bases, but Noah subscribed to the theory that not only was natural food better, both in taste and for health, but mankind couldn’t lose the knowledge of how to prepare food.
He caught sight of Hammal’s, regarded as the best joh-eun gansig trailer on the planet. Noah personally thought that Morning Calm, over in Robbyville was better, but the thought of Hammal’s kimchi and bulgogi-pouches set his mouth watering. He didn’t get into Williamson that often, and it would be a shame to pass up a chance to have one of those exquisite pouches of heaven
Maybe just one after we’re through here wouldn’t spoil my appetite. Gamma doesn’t have to know.
“Uh, mission control to Noah? You there? Which building?” Esther asked.
“Oh, sorry,” he said, snapping back to the here and now. “I was just thinking. Uh, that’s the Federation Administration Building over there.”
There had been talk of re-naming the building as The Ryck Lysander Building, but for now, the old, generic name remained.
“That’s the problem, then, you thinking,” his sister said, looking pleased with her wit.
He bumped her with his shoulder, saying, “Excuse me? I didn’t see you there.”
What did you say?” she asked sweetly as she suddenly stepped back onto his foot, putting all her weight on it.
He laughed as he pushed her off. It was almost as if the last dozen years had been peeled away, and they were young pre-teens again, teasing each other. Instead of another retort, he pulled her into his embrace, giving her a huge hug.
“What’s that all about?” she asked, but her arms crept up around his back as she returned the hug.
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