Theodore

by Marcus LaGrone

  “Yes, ma'am.”

  “The name is Janice.”

  “Yes, ma'am. It is,” grinned Bill.

  Janice just rolled her eyes and did her best to enjoy the pleasant company. Meagan and Anna were finally able to relax and chatter away as Anna did her best to show her around the massive art museum. The museum was not a calling so much for the planet, but for art as a whole. The collection spanned hundreds of planets and thousands of years. A few works of the old great masters from the human’s home world, on traveling display, rounded out the exhaustive collection.

  As the afternoon rolled on, Meagan suddenly went giddy and almost hysterical in the portrait gallery. Theodore was confused at first, the pictures were all of stuffed shirts, political bigwigs who were trying to immortalize themselves. What could silly Meagan find so funny? Someone in the buff? As he approached, his own smile threatened to consume his face.

  “Your First Mother painted that one!” laughed Meagan as she hugged Anna.

  Theodore's smile was going to be hard to extinguish as he carefully double checked the signature as well as the caption. “We are how far away from home?” he laughed as he hugged the girls.

  Anna cut lose with a raspberry, “Just proves this place has good taste!”

  “Well of course this place has good taste,” grinned Meagan. “Anna is from here!”

  Meagan and Theodore both had a good run of watching Anna change various shades of red.

  As the afternoon wore to a close, Anna had her revenge. For reasons none of them could fathom, a large number of school aged girls wanted their pictures taken with Meagan. Meagan wouldn't dream of disappointing the younger girls, but she was just as quickly embarrassed by all the attention.

  “She seems to be the darling of the museum,” grinned Janice.

  “We need to be going soon,” replied Bill, adding the only gray cloud in hours.

  They all nodded and knew what that meant: they'd been seen in one place for long enough that... that unpleasant things might happen to the locals. Anna was still able to hold an honest smile, they had made a good run of the museum and Meagan had become the local rock star, as it were. A fun day out, just shorter than planned.

  They expertly moved to the roof and the waiting gunship for their short trip back to the safehouse.

  “Thomas Westmore has been in contact,” began Tim to Janice. “Trying to coordinate dinner. Back at the safehouse is best, we can fly him out and back easily enough.”

  Janice smiled, “Whatever works! I'm just happy that he is being big enough to show up.”

  “Understood...”

  Dinner was civil, bordering on actually fun. Thomas was very polite and friendly to Meagan and did his best to be civil to Theodore. Smiles graced the table as they ate. The only overt problems were associated with Thomas' language skills not being quite on par with his lovely wife's. Long smiles were had with the good food and then Thomas left for the night and the press of the day soon bid them all to sleep.

  49

  “So the late morning is going to be hitting the shopping districts and we hit the aquarium in the afternoon?” asked Theodore.

  Anna grinned, “I take it from your excellent poker face that spending three hours shopping is not your idea of fun.”

  “Why not leave the poor boy here and we girls will make a morning of it,” grinned Meagan.

  Theodore laughed at the mental image of Janice being “one of the girls.” That was good to see. Very!

  “Um,” began Janice hesitantly, “Thomas is coming by for lunch. You going to be okay if you are stuck alone with him for a bit?”

  Theodore offered himself a small smile, “I'm sure some things need to be said. Might as well get those out of the way.”

  Janice smiled as she straightened Theodore's shirt and vest, not unlike Emily those months ago. “You are a good lad. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.” She kissed him on the cheek and rejoined the rest of the girls. Anna and Meagan quickly bolted back to offer kisses of their own before they headed out with their small army in tow.

  Theodore smiled as the girls departed. He knew that things could quite easily get unpleasant with Thomas. But he also knew he had their strength and support and that made all the difference in the world.

  “Dr. Thomas Westmore is here,” announced Lori.

  “Good! Send him in,” replied Theodore with his best smile. He checked the clock: there was easily a half hour before the girls were due back. And that assumed they didn't get distracted. He laughed briefly to himself, Bill wouldn't let them get too distracted. Now... now was time for him and Thomas alone. He wasn't looking forward to a fight, but he was hoping for... well... anything.

  Thomas smiled as he entered the room and thanked Lori politely at the door. He stood across from Theodore, nervous in his manner and presentation.

  “Would you like a seat?” offered Theodore, his own apprehension showing in his voice.

  Thomas flashed a forced smile as he found a chair. “You seem to have found a wonderful girl there in Meagan Rose.”

  Theodore smiled, “I'd say she found me, but yes, she is a wonderful girl. Quite dedicated and beaming at the thought of being a Second Mother. She and Anna get along splendidly”

  Thomas shifted nervously in his seat as he fought for words.

  “We are alone, sir,” began Theodore. “Just speak your piece.”

  Thomas sighed and held his tongue for a bit before he launched, “What's with you Highlanders? So greedy that you have to have four wives?”

  Theodore sniffed, “They would have me. The First Mother sets the house, not the Father. It isn't about greed, it's about what they want. Anna wants me. Meagan wants in as a Second. Anna and Meagan are best of friends. They want me in as a family.”

  Thomas scoffed, “So you would let them speak for you?”

  “I speak for myself. But for the family? Yes, First Mother speaks for the family.”

  “And you call yourself a man?”

  “Yes,” sniffed Theodore, “and a Highlander.”

  “And what is a Highlander? What is so important about your stupid land? It's just a continental shelf and you people bask in it like it's the cradle of civilization!”

  “I look around the lands I've traveled and I see greed and hatred, bigotry and fear. The Bella-Shona are just one of many diseases that infect your planet but you would brush them aside and let them hurt your fellow countrymen and kin. What do you know of civilization? We have to travel with an armed escort in your lands because you people are unwilling to deal with the corruption that lives under your very noses! The Highlands isn't about a place; it's about an ideal! The Highlands are anyplace that a Highlander calls home! What are Highlanders? We are people that share that common vision, that ideal of how people can live together and work together. To confront our fears, to confront demons around us and fix them rather than sweep them under the rug. Anna is a Highlander; everyone in our town will proclaim that loudly and with both eyes looking back. Even the town thug knows that. We aren't perfect. We never claim to be, but we all share that common ideal and we work to make it happen! Are there bad people there? Of course, we aren't exempt! But it's the attitude...”

  “Anna will never be one of you. She'll always be the outsider that is politely tolerated...”

  “What do you know of our people? Of my town? Have you been there and talked with them? Have you seen the warm glow in the eye of the midwife? Have you seen the broad grins of the other girls she calls friends?”

  “But she'll never have children of her own...”

  “Children? Is that what you are so hung up on? A marriage is about a family! The family first and foremost! If we are graced with children then so be it. If you met a family that were both humans yet they had no children, would you be giving them this much grief?”

  “Well, no. But...”

  “But what? Is this all about the fur coat then? Would you be content if I shaved it all off? Would that suddenly make things a
ll better?”

  “No, but two humans together is natural...”

  “People who love each other, being together: that is natural! It doesn't matter the color of my hair or the length of my coat: Anna and I love each other. Why can't you seem to understand that?”

  “You lust for each other, granted,” snarled Thomas.

  “You have put your daughter through hell and back as you have lashed out against her and her choices. We, Anna and I, have held fast and strong beside the storm that you have created, beside the storm of hate and greed of both you and the mafia. You daughter loves you dearly, but she will set you aside if she has to for the sake of our new family. She doesn't want to, she really wants you to embrace our new family and share the warmth. That isn't about lust; this is about caring and sharing.”

  “None of the kids will ever look upon me as their real grandfather...”

  “Oh, crap, we're back to kids again! If you were so desperate for biological grandkids, why is Anna an only child? Where is your parade of children filling your house with a warm smile? Your entire future happiness is entirely on the shoulders of Anna? Does she deserve that emotional baggage? And no! at this rate the kids will never call you 'grandfather'. They will, however, call Janice 'grandmother.'” Theodore snarled, “You don't get Highland families. Who is my biological mother?”

  Thomas blinked, “Um, Fiona.”

  “Really, are you sure it isn't Emily or Charlotte?”

  “Well, she is the First Mother.”

  “First Mother is head of the family. Why should she necessarily be the first one to have a child? Having a child gets in the way of work, and the last thing a young family needs are financial hurdles as well.”

  “So, Emily then.”

  Theodore laughed, “Have you talked with your wife about my parents at all? The odd little gossip points that I know Anna wrote about in her letters...”

  “Ok, well, Charlotte then! What's the point?” snarled Thomas.

  Theodore grinned, “The point is, if you ask any of them, they will say that they are my mother. They all claim me, just like they all claim my sisters Rose and Abby! You know what? I don't know who my biological mother is, and I don't care! I know it isn't Emily, but whether it is Fiona or Charlotte, no clue. And I have no need to know. A family is all about loving everyone who is in it. It's not about partitioning or parceling out love. That's the beauty of love: the more you give, the more you have.”

  “You and your delusional Pollyanna world...”

  Theodore permitted himself a laugh, “Yes we are optimists, and I'm probably the biggest optimist of all. But we aren't delusional; we know there are trials and tribulations out there. But we, we Highlanders, approach those as solvable problems. You did volunteer work off world: were you doing it out of some sense of self-guilt about how life had unfairly been kind to you, or did you do it because you thought you could make a positive benefit?”

  “We were trying to help people! How dare you imply otherwise!”

  “Then when did you give up? Give up on people? Aren't you every bit as much of a Pollyanna as I? How many of those desperate situations you went into were natural, and how many were the side effect of people exploiting others for political or monetary gain?”

  “The worst were all man made...”

  “Yet you kept going in and trying to make a positive difference! You are a good person, you've proven that. So why, why is my fur getting in the way? If you let them, any and all the children will call you 'grandfather'. Just let them...”

  Thomas paused; for once no snarl came back so Theodore just held his breath.

  “No... no, it just won't be the same,” finally blurted Thomas. “And... well... I guess it won't matter anyway. You'll be dead soon enough.”

  Theodore's fur flared, “What did you do?”

  Thomas tossed his phone to the floor. “Got rid of an unwanted suitor,” he snarled back evilly.

  “It's being tracked,” mewed Theodore softly.

  “Yes. Yes, indeed!”

  “They'll kill you too.”

  Thomas laughed, “Nah, I'm too good to them.” He turned and headed to the door.

  “You've sold out everything your wife and daughter ever stood for. And now you have created your own pit of hell...”

  “So long as my daughter isn't in it!”

  50

  What has Thomas done? Theodore would have snarled, but that would have been wasting time. He sprang across the room and hit the panic button: the entire team would instantly know there was trouble. He searched for what he knew had to be a comlink when it started broadcasting on its own. He scrambled across the room and found the comlink on the coffee table.

  “What happened?” came Bill’s voice with a tinge of fear.

  “Thomas sold me out! They were tracking his phone when he arrived.”

  Theodore would have expected a tirade of expletives from Bill but instead he was clear and focused, “We're evacuating the ladies now. Local DSS is heading your way... I've no response from Lori... she's not picking up. Get the heck out of there! Take the comlink and run! Do that armor slam thing or whatever, just get some distance between you and that building!”

  “Caught you the first time, out.” Theodore tucked the comlink in his pocket and ran to the nearest window. What had happened to Lori? The frosted windows were thick! Oh well, time to open them the fun way. Theodore invoked a small live steel blade and cut a hole in the winodw. Laminate of ceramic and plastic of some type, aluminum oxynitride or maybe just good old alumina. Either way the composite stack was thick and heavy. He had to dodge as the piece fell inward just short of his paws. He knew they were very high up from the trips in the repulsar gunship but never paid that much attention to exactly how high or what the exterior of the building looked like. His first look outside, however, was interrupted.

  High power machine-gun fire raked the opened window just barely after its opening. Theodore's armor burst around him, but it was more his reflexes than the armor that had saved him as he quickly spun clear of his supposed exit. They were only heavy machine-gun rounds, probably only 15mm or so... Theodore wasn't worried about soaking one, rather it was the torrential rain of rounds that made him nervous. There was a brief pause, probably to ensure that the barrel wasn't overheating, only to be replaced by the dramatic burst of fire from a gatling pulse rifle. The short bursts, normally comical in their bathroom humor like sound, had lost any attempts at mirth as 10mm 22 gram projectiles at mach six burst through the open window in groups of two and three hundred.

  So much for the window! Theodore regrouped and bolted for the security elevator. As he touched the door his instincts flared and his fur danced wildly. He had no idea what was beyond, but “bad” was high on the list. Worse so than the window. That meant... more windows and move faster! He sprinted across the penthouse as randomly as he could, carving holes in the windows as he went. Things weren't looking good: no matter which face of the building he went to, there were gunshots there to greet him. Time. How long before the DSS guys arrived? What type of firefight were they going to have to fight through?

  He should have been moving, not thinking, as a squad of heavily armed and armored men suddenly burst into the room. With completely environmentally enclosed helmets, Theodore knew instantly that this was a different breed of cat... er person.

  Spray rounds of thermite and white phosphorous soon flooded the room. They sprayed harmlessly off of his armor but were quickly turning the room into an inferno. Air! They were quickly going to suffocate him, and if he ran to the windows for air...

  Step one: discourage repeat performances by clearing the gene pool. Theodore snarled as he charged the squad and invoked a Live Steel glaive... more of a naginata from a Japanese tradition. If there were any surprised or confused looks, the helmets concealed them. Theodore struck home on the first target with full power and greater determination. He kept his focus on his target, and that was his target's undoing. He could have guess
ed that his opponent wore a smirk as Theodore struck home as he instantly sensed contact with Live Steel armor. The smirk certainly vanished as Theodore followed through, bisecting his opponent, Live Steel armor or not!

  That seemed to have gotten their attention! Treasonous Highlanders in a crunchy new shell. They quickly ditched their conventional weapons and invoked their own Live Steel weapons.

  One down, seven to go... Theodore closed into the middle of them; every place he swung was a target! With practiced form of a thousand matches with his father, with every sense in his body flailing outward and soaking in the world, he struck. Parries meant he reversed the weapon, seamlessly invoking it in the reversed form. Stalls meant he shifted to sword and closed before bringing the long bladed glaive back to dance. It was a dance... he started to understand that now. He was the minstrel and minister of dance as he spun and whirled in perfect form. As calm rushed over him, he could almost hear the music playing... playing while the blades danced. But soon he was without partners. Oh well...

  With a defiant calm he walked back out the way the squad had rushed in. Back out onto the landing zone for the gunships. Out into plain sight. Two light repuslar craft were orbiting the top of the building while sharpshooters with anti-armor weapons made the presence known as they fired from nearby roof tops.

  The world seemed to slow down and he could see it all, almost as from a third person perspective. The arcs of the high power weapons: he could sense their arcs back to their origin. The repulsar craft: he could all but feel the pilots’ nervous state as he stood in the open and challenged them all.

  A sharp shot from a 30mm pulse rifle set the tone as Theodore stepped into the shot and all but plucked the round from the air and reoriented it back to its sender. A gentle rain from the 10mm gatling pulse rifle on the repulsar craft sprinkled lightly against his armor. The source of apprehension just moments before was now merely an optical distraction splashing on his armor. Like the afternoon back at the university, Theodore launched an arrow at the offending gnat and it struck home in the craft's engine, collapsing its lift coils and sending the craft into an emergency landing to the streets below.