Warp Thrive

by Ginger Booth

  “With my ship?!”

  “’Course not. We’d buy an unmanned shuttle for the trial. Though we need to fit it with a third gen star drive. His micro warp sucks down the power. In theory. Haven’t tested it. But mere weeks, maybe days, to Denali.”

  “Buy a space shuttle and a top shelf star drive,” Ben mused. “With those funds that can’t buy me out of my dad’s spare bedroom, tutoring an 8-year-old in math.”

  Cope rubbed his jaw. “With the current legit economy flushed down the toilet, we have ample capital flight to the dark side. You’ll like the first gig. We run some paddy refugees to an abandoned phosphate mine.”

  That was ludicrous! All sorts of illegal, infuriating to the Mahina Actual authorities and Carmack’s populist government alike, not to mention the oppressive slave-owner regime on Sagamore. Ben could get his ship proscribed on both colonized moons.

  He sputtered, “We’re stealing peasants from Sagamore? And landing them here?”

  “No, Lavelle already liberated the paddies,” Cope replied, eyes evasive. “We just figure out a way to land them.”

  They had a rich history with the pirate Lavelle, beginning with him hijacking their spaceship on first meeting. Granted, Ben had worked with him successfully since. Trust remained problematic.

  Silence dragged between them past the minute mark. Cope broke it first. “A lot to think about. Just… Be nice to Teke, OK? You mean the world to him. He’s family.”

  And will you be sharing a cabin? “I think we’ve covered enough ground for now,” Ben declared abruptly. They hadn’t. He still didn’t know who else planned to join his crew, nor any details of this insane paddy coyote scheme.

  He just didn’t want to talk anymore.

  “Sure,” Cope agreed. He let himself out and closed the door behind him softly.

  50

  “Dad!” Ben wrapped his arms around his father with gusto. The dentist was thinner, older, but still spry, his eyes dancing.

  “Granddad hugs me first!” Frazz complained.

  The 10-year-old’s frizzy brown hair was freshly bleached and tinted in cotton candy pink and blue, and somewhat restrained in a few haphazard bunchy ponytails. She shoved Ben’s hip with two hands.

  “I most certainly do not!” Nathan Acosta remanded her. “And what kind of manners are those, you little heathen!”

  “What’s a heathen?” she asked Sock, who shrugged. Sock’s wavy black hair was newly cropped to cap his skull, with a delightful short fringe of bangs kicking up from cowlicks over his high forehead. His enormous eyes took after his father Teke, a striking gene-crafted deep aquamarine set in long dark lashes.

  “I will hug Socrates next!” Nathan declared, and collared the child. “Because he’s the cutest. You love your granddad best, don’t you Sock?”

  Sock looked dubious, but endured the hug and kiss on his forehead.

  Nathan directed Frazz out of his way by her shoulders, and shared a manly handshake-and-half-hug with Nico. The teen’s hair was the same texture as Frazz’s, but black, and more successfully tamed into a man-bun, no girly streaks. Nico adored his adopted grandfather. The feeling was mutual.

  “Well, now I’m out of people to hug, so I suppose I must touch you,” Ben’s dad informed his only biological grandchild. He extended a forefinger to poke a hot pink cartoon creature on her chest. “But you have cooties. Because you’re mean.”

  The pair glowered at each other, drawing their frowning faces closer, until Frazz squealed with giggles and launched herself around his neck.

  “Whoa!” Ben grabbed her. “Too rough on the old man!”

  Nathan made a show of holding his lower back and creaking back to standing. This wasn’t all feigned. He was a stretch over 210 cm, and couldn’t straighten entirely. “Charming as always, Sassafras.”

  “You called me a heathen.”

  “I’ll call you worse than that when you’re grown. You painted your claws pink.”

  “I took her for a manicure and hair styling,” Ben admitted. “Sock got a haircut too, isn’t that handsome?” He ruffled Sock’s hair, only to have the youngest cringe away. The absentee dad retracted his offending fingers. “Then the guys played games in the arcade. But I thought Frazz needed a little more girl time. Silly new outfit. Goofy hair. Sparkly fingers. Cope’s idea of fun tends to involve axle grease.”

  “It was awesome, Granddaddy!” Frazz encouraged. “I want girl stuff every time you’re home, Ben!”

  “I prefer ‘Dad,’” he reminded her.

  “Dad-B,” Nico corrected him. “Cope is Dad.”

  Nathan intervened. “That’s entirely for disambiguation. An unnecessary measure here. You call him Dad. He calls me Dad. Plenty of dads to go round.”

  “Maybe someday we’ll have a Mom,” Ben suggested.

  “Maybe not,” Nathan squelched him. “Why, have you been catting around lately?”

  “What does catting mean?” Frazz demanded.

  “Try a dictionary, little vixen. If you’re too lazy to use one, then adults will continue to spew words past your ears like a game of monkey in the middle. Now there’s a thought. Frazz is the monkey. Feel free to play in the street. If traffic comes, be sure to dodge. Survival of the fittest!”

  Motorized traffic was banned from the cobbled pedestrian mall.

  “Was he like this to you?” Nico asked.

  “Always,” Ben confirmed. “My vocabulary is vaster than oceans.”

  “How big is an ocean?” Frazz couldn’t abide a conversation that didn’t center on her.

  Ben squatted down. “Socrates. How big is an ocean?”

  The boy tilted his head, glancing to his elder siblings, sure that they would volunteer something first. But all eyes remained locked on him. “Big.”

  “He spoke! Oh, glory be, and the heavens shine forth!” Nathan began capering in place and snapping his fingers. “Socrates spoke to me! I’m honored!”

  “See if he ever speaks to you again, you old clown,” Ben teased. “Don’t mind him, Sock. Glad you spoke up, though.”

  Sock’s brow puckered.

  “Would you like a ball to play with?” Ben offered. “Or, I know, you could play pretend monkey in the middle. Frazz can’t catch an imaginary ball.”

  Sock snickered at that, and nodded sharply before running out into the street.

  “That’s not fair! Ben, you have awful ideas!” Frazz hit him, then ran after Sock. Nico trailed them.

  Ben, still squatting in the doorway, gazed fondly after the kids at play. Nathan hit him upside the head. “Ow! What was that for?”

  “That child is afraid of you. And that girl didn’t need hair dye and nail sparkles while Cope is struggling for money. Yutz.”

  Under another light flurry of slaps, Ben hauled himself up by the door frame. “Why do I even come home? You give me abuse. Cope hands me a guilt trip. The kids feel cheated that they got a second-string dad on Glow. Nobody appreciates me.”

  “Flocks of tiny violins must cry for you somewhere. Not here. That child is eight years old and you’ve never brought him home before. Cad!” Nathan hit his son again for good measure, then jutted a finger into the street. “I have three grandchildren, and three sons – Cope, Teke, and you. I like you least.” Nathan turned to head up the stairs to the private floor.

  “Harsh,” Ben acknowledged, following. “Did I do something specific to piss you off?” Downstairs housed the dental office. Ben caught a passing impression of boxes in there, but thought nothing of it. His dad served a number of towns. Equipment and supplies often migrated.

  When the living room opened to more crates, he faltered. “You’re moving?”

  “Sold this week. I’m moving to Schuyler to watch my grandchildren while Cope is in space. Can’t sell the practice. It isn’t worth anything under Carmack’s new rules.”

  “Wow, Dad.” Ben was stunned. Through all his travels, this fixed point remained, his dad, the dental office, boring Poldark. The town’s school bore their ind
elible imprint. The two of them had decorated it as a castle while he was a kid, and built a medieval-themed playground. The school lay up the block, and they didn’t have a yard of their own. Even when Ben and Cope were gone 18 months on the trip to Denali, Nathan remained here, and commuted to visit Nico in the creche. At first Ben’s ‘domestic partnership’ wasn’t even a marriage, merely a legal convenience.

  But Nathan took his grandfathering seriously from day one. Ben’s kids didn’t have three fathers. They had four.

  “Cope and I talked last night,” Ben said slowly. “I could stay here to raise the kids. Sit out this next mission.”

  His dad’s eyes drilled into his. “You’d send Cope and your ship into space without you? You’re the captain of the Prosper. You’d skate out on that responsibility, too?”

  Ben abruptly had enough of this abuse. “Dad, you’re out of line! Spaceways is nearly bankrupt. We’ve got three kids and a note to pay on the skyship. We’re brainstorming how to meet all our obligations. He wants to…take the underhanded job to fund Teke’s research. I was thinking of bowing out, yes.”

  Nathan shook his head. “I watch the kids. Today, this family needs you to be a skyship captain.”

  “Dad, the…project…could get me crimed.”

  “Benjamin, I’ll move to Schuyler to offer black market dentistry. Because Carmack’s new Medical Board cut my ‘usurious’ rates to 12 credits an hour. Only billable while a patient’s rump is in my dental chair. Based on my previous lofty 15 credits an hour average, they rated me a grade D dentist.” Nathan kicked a box. “Grade D grants me the same pay scale as that fool hairdresser who bleached Frazzie’s hair. Which violates the creche dress code. We need to fix that before we take her back.”

  Ben stood stunned taking all that in. “But you set rates that your patients can afford. You’ve gone out of your way to make sure six towns had sound teeth, no matter how poor. Dad, you’re an excellent dentist.”

  “Yes, and how many customers were waiting in line this morning at the hairdresser’s?”

  “None,” Ben admitted. “We wandered around a while to find anyplace open.”

  “I have half a mind to go back to that hairdresser and demand she undo the damage,” Nathan growled. “Shameless hussy, taking advantage.”

  Ben rolled his eyes at his father’s bent back, then snaked his arms around his chest for a hug. “Dad, I’m sorry. That really sucks, losing your practice.”

  “It does.”

  “Your patients will fight for you.”

  “No, they’re happy the government is giving them free dental care. And too stupid to realize they’ll get nothing at those rates. We were among the wealthiest families in town, Ben. Our neighbors feel vindicated to see us brought low.”

  “Not all of them,” Ben suggested.

  “Doesn’t matter.” His dad patted his hand and broke free of the embrace. “Thanks. I needed that. But! I’m not completely useless. I’ll be in Schuyler for my grandkids. Jules can rent me a place near Nico. Who knows, maybe I’ll learn the new nanite dentistry. I can prevent crooked teeth. Silliness.”

  “I’m glad you straightened my teeth.” Ben bared them in a model grin. “People look better with straight teeth.”

  “Fat lot of good it did you. You attracted a wonderful mate, then threw him away.”

  Ben soured. “What ever happened to Eileen, Dad?”

  “She wanted my money. She’s a Carmack supporter now. Probably turned me in to the new Medical Board for overcharging.”

  That matched Ben’s read on Eileen. He never liked her. “But aren’t you lonely? Mom died a long time ago.”

  Nathan met his eye sadly. “I’m a one-woman man. I never met anyone who could take your mother’s place.” His gaze lingered. “You?”

  “Maybe the same,” Ben murmured. “Still, I wish I had a mother. I’d like to give that to the kids.”

  “You had a captain. Did she coddle you?”

  Ben chuckled. “No. I learned a lot from her, though. So what’s the plan today?”

  “You’re going to pack this stuff into my dental truck. Then back to Schuyler to see Nico’s new place. And fix Frazzie’s hair.”

  “Ah. Chores.” He should have known. How did he draw moving duty for two households in one weekend?

  “You know what Cope said this morning, when I told him I lost my practice? He said, ‘Hell, Dad. I wish I could fix it for you. Or torch the Board.’”

  “Yeah, he’s a better son than me. You mentioned.”

  “Ben, you’ll never be happy until you get Cope back.”

  “Dad, I am happy. I’m a happy guy.”

  Was he? Ben thought he was having a blast until a summons from Cope interrupted his ramen bowl. Suddenly life got real, and a real mess at that.

  Nathan nodded. “Start hauling the dental chair. Grav lifter’s out back in the shed. You can throw everything out from your room. If it’s still here, you don’t need it.”

  51

  Copeland sat reviewing his lawyer’s notes on the many dissolution documents, when the pitter-patter of small feet hurled across the galley and into his arms. “Sock! Hey! I didn’t expect to see you tonight!”

  In fact, he expected all three of his children deposited back where they belonged, and his father-in-law as well. He raised a slightly pained eyebrow at Ben, while cuddling his youngest tight.

  “We had a bit of a meltdown,” Ben confessed. “Sock really wanted to see you today. He’s welcome to sleep in my cabin.”

  Cope winced. Socrates would sleep in his cabin, not Ben’s. Dammit, he expected a sensitive delivery later. He tried to keep his children well insulated from his less legal operations. He rubbed his brow with a quick hand, then turned a smile to his child, gently prying Sock’s face free from his all-body grip. “You got a haircut. How handsome! Did the creche do that?” He toyed with the kicked-up cowlicks over Sock’s exotic eyes. This lucky child escaped inheriting the Copeland nose. He could grow into a real looker.

  “I did that,” Ben told him. “And Frazzie’s hair. I let the hairdresser bleach and color hers for pretty stripes. But Dad said it was against the rules, so we dyed it back. Frazzie’s none too pleased with me tonight. She’s back in the creche now, eager for movie night.”

  “Would you like to go home and watch movies?” Cope asked his son hopefully.

  “I don’t like Earth movies,” the child whispered. “Why is a girl always the star? She gets to wear pretty clothes and everybody likes her. It’s never a boy.”

  This didn’t mesh with Cope’s experience of Earth movies. But he supposed the old sci-fi action flicks he enjoyed, rich in whimsical machines, were too old for Sock.

  “You want to wear princess dresses?” Ben asked in concern.

  Cope stifled a laugh, and focused on the child. “Daddy Ben doesn’t like Earth lit either. Says it doesn’t make any sense.”

  Sock nodded emphatically.

  “Well, I did have other plans tonight.” Cope couldn’t resist sending that gentle dig Ben’s way, but let it go. “I missed you.”

  “I missed you!” Sock plastered himself on his best dad again.

  “Daddy Teke is here, too. All three of us!” Cope accessed the ship address system. “Teke, report to the galley immediately.” He turned back to Sock. “Did you eat dinner?”

  “I fed them with my Dad after we saw Nico’s place,” Ben supplied. “His room is small, but nice. Did you know Dad was moving to Schuyler to watch them?”

  “Ben, I asked Sock a question,” Cope objected. “Don’t speak for him. Sock, shall we print chicken and noodles?”

  “Yay!” Sock headed straightaway to the galley food printer. Ben looked alarmed.

  “He likes to program the noodles,” Cope explained. “I spoke to Nathan this morning while you were en route. I’m grateful he’ll watch the kids. Too bad no one in Poldark has the sense to miss their dentist. Hey, Ben, you might have called before doing this. I had plans.”

  “It
’s no bother,” Ben attempted. “He’ll sleep with me.”

  “Daddy!” Sock called. “Spicy chicken tandoori sauce?”

  Teke stepped into the galley in time to field that one. “Sounds great! Hey, shorty!”

  “Daddy!” The boy squealed and ran to leap into Teke’s arms.

  The third dad laughingly held him by the ribs and spun his legs around. “Socrates!”

  Cope brought him up to speed on Sock’s noodle assignment. “He likes to add geometric flair. Sock is sleeping here tonight. Cabin TBD.”

  “What’s TBD mean?” Sock demanded.

  “To Be Determined,” Teke replied, before Cope could deflect. “Three daddies, three cabins. Who will be the lucky one? I’ll give you a tour. You can pick.”

  Cope watched rapt, as the physicist drew the little one back to the soy printer’s advanced programmable interface. The Denali claimed to have zero interest in parenting. He never knew his parents, and didn’t care. Parental chromosomes amounted to superficial scenery behind a core genome crafted by experts. Teke was of the elite academic caste on Denali. A few such were natural selections of brilliant children originally intended to become hunters, cosmopolitans, or farmers. Not Teke. He was engineered from day one as one of the greatest minds of Generation 5.

  They didn’t know he’d turn out a physicist. They might have chosen something more immediately practical if they knew how. But super-genius was built in.

  Sock had questions about his Denali dad. Cope was desperately eager for Teke to take an interest and supply answers. But this was the first time Teke had seen the child in months. Naturally, the boy thought it was his fault that Teke and Ben didn’t like him. Cope knew damned well it was his fault, not the child’s.

  But he didn’t have time for this tonight. He checked for update messages, his comm held discreetly under the table. On track for 02:00. He stowed the device to focus on Socrates. Ben sat down in his view, so he shifted his chair to watch around him, though Eli’s shrubbery brushed his shoulder.