Sakira

by Robert blanton

  “They don’t want people being able to take children who aren’t theirs onto planes,” her mother replied. “Besides, parents like to be able to make sure their children actually get to where they’re sending them. It’s stressful enough having you fly by yourself.”

  “Adults worry too much.”

  “Now be quiet,” her mother said as she stepped up to the gate agent. “Hello, I’m Dr. McCormack, and this is my daughter, Catie.” It was obvious to anyone that they were mother and daughter. At 5’4”, Catie was two inches shorter than her mother, but they had the same face, and both had soft brown hair and blue eyes.

  “Yes, we’ve been expecting you,” the agent said as she waved to someone in the seating area.

  A woman dressed as a flight attendant got up and came to the counter. She was tall, 5’ 9” with a nice figure, dark auburn hair and a pretty smile. She walked over to the desk and introduced herself.

  “I’m Jackie Drummond, I’ll be escorting your daughter on the plane.”

  Catie extended her hand, and Jackie reached out and shook hands with her. “Hi,” she said.

  “If you’ll step over here, we can finish up the paperwork,” Jackie said. Catie and her mother followed Jackie to the other end of the counter. “First, I need to see some ID.”

  “Here is my driver’s license and Catie’s passport,” Dr. McCormack said, handing the documents to Jackie. Jackie examined them and checked the data against what she had on her sheet.

  “Okay, everything looks good. Now Catie’s ticket?” Jackie asked.

  “Here you go,” Catie said, taking the ticket out of her backpack.

  “Okay, I can take responsibility for Catie now, or we can wait until boarding time,” Jackie said. “It will be another hour.”

  Dr. McCormack looked hesitant about what to do.

  “Go ahead, Mommy,” Catie said. “I’m just going to sit here and read my book. You’ll just be fidgeting.”

  “I’ll sit with her until she gets on the plane,” Jackie said. “She will not be out of my sight.”

  “I guess that’s okay,” Dr. McCormack said.

  “Good, then, Catie, here is your wristband, you need to wear it until you get to Honolulu.” Jackie snapped the nylon ID bracelet on Catie’s left wrist. “Next, I sign here that I’ve taken responsibility for Catie,” Jackie said as she signed the document. “You can sign there, Dr. McCormack, saying you’ve given me responsibility for her.”

  Dr. McCormack took the pen from Jackie and signed the document. Jackie then peeled off a copy and handed it to her. She handed a second copy to the gate agent, then put the rest of the document back into the portfolio she was carrying.

  “Okay, Dr. McCormack, you’re free to leave anytime. Catie, you don’t leave my sight, okay?” Jackie said.

  “Sure,” Catie said.

  “Do you need anything, something to drink or to go to the restroom?”

  “No, I’m good.”

  “Then why don’t we go over there and sit down while we wait. Dr. McCormack, you’re welcome to sit with us.”

  Catie gave her mother a smile. “Go on Mommy.”

  “Okay, I’ll just leave now,” Dr. McCormack said as she started toward the stairs.

  “Who are you visiting in Hawaii?” Jackie asked.

  “My father and uncle.”

  “Do they live there, or is this a vacation?”

  “They live there now,” Catie said. “We used to live in Boston, but after the divorce, Dad and Uncle Blake moved to Hawaii.”

  “What do they do?”

  “Dad’s a scientist. He does consulting, and he’s working on some kind of sonar thing. He used to teach at MIT. Uncle Blake runs cruises on his and Dad’s yacht. Dad uses the yacht to test his sonar.”

  “Sounds like you should have some fun there.”

  “Yeah, I was there for Thanksgiving, and we went out on the yacht and did some snorkeling and just hung around. It was pretty cool.”

  “So, do you have enough stuff for the flight?”

  “Yes, I have my snacks, a bottle of water, my Kindle, and some movies on my I-pad.”

  “Sounds like you’re set.”

  “I think so,” Catie said as she pulled her Kindle out of her backpack.

  “What are you reading?”

  “A Tale of Two Cities.”

  “That’s a pretty adult book for your age.”

  “I guess. I like to read; Mom and Dad make up a reading list for me. Daddy said that when I finish this one, he’ll teach me to scuba dive.”

  “I would think a Harry Potter book would be a better fit.”

  “Oh, I read those when I was seven.”

  “All of them?”

  “Sure.”

  Catie settled back into her seat and started reading. Jackie pulled a magazine from her portfolio and began to leaf through it. After forty minutes, the announcement for pre-boarding for Catie’s flight came over the speaker.

  “That’s us,” Jackie said. “Now’s the time to go to the restroom unless you want to use the facilities on the plane.”

  “Yuck, let’s go.”

  After they used the restroom, they returned to the boarding area. “Let’s just have a seat again, we’ll be the last to board,” Jackie said. She looked over at the gate agent who was making the announcements. He gave her a thumbs up.

  Catie started reading her book again.

  “How much do you have left?”

  “I’m at eighty percent so I should finish it before we land. That way I get my scuba lesson right away, and we can do lots of diving.”

  “That’s smart. Does your uncle dive?”

  “He does, but it’s difficult for him, his eardrum was injured when he got shot down in Iraq,” Catie said.

  “I’m sorry to hear that, so he was badly injured?”

  “Yeah. He lost his left eye, and the left side of his face and his arm are kind of scarred up.”

  “Oh, that’s too bad. What did he fly?” Jackie asked after some consternation.

  “He flew the F18 Super Hornet. That’s a really hot jet. But you can’t fly in the Navy with only one eye.”

  “I guess that makes sense. Is he married?”

  “No, he used to always have a girlfriend. But since the accident, he’s been alone, except for Dad. I guess women get grossed out by the scars. He wears an eye-patch when he takes people on the cruise, so he looks like a pirate.”

  “I’m sure he makes a wonderful pirate,” Jackie said. “Doesn’t he have a false eye?”

  “Yeah, but it’s all scarred around it and he doesn’t have an eyebrow,” Catie explained.

  “Last call for flight …”

  “That’s us,” Jackie said.

  They got up and headed to the counter. “Did I make it?” Jackie asked.

  “Yep, and first class for both of you,” the agent replied. “Have fun,” he said as he rolled a suitcase out for her to grab.

  “I will,” Jackie said. “Catie, we got first class seats, how about that?”

  “That’s cool. You’re coming with me?”

  “I’m not really working, I’m on standby to go to Hawaii for vacation. So, they had me handle you here, and now that I made the flight, I’ll hand you off to your father when we get to Honolulu.”

  “Do you have family in Hawaii?”

  “No, but my girlfriend is in the Navy, and she lives there. I’ll be staying with her. Here we are, do you want the window?”

  “Sure.”

  ◆ ◆ ◆

  “Her plane lands in thirty minutes,” Blake said. “So, relax, have a beer.”

  “I am relaxed!”

  “And I’m a monk,” Blake retorted.

  “Okay, I’m a little nervous. It’s been almost a year.”

  “I think she’ll remember you, and you talk to her every week.”

  “But at that age so much changes in a year and the telephone isn’t the same.”

  “You’re still her dad. Now drink your be
er and shut up.”

  The two brothers had spent a hard two days on the Mea Huli while they finished up the fourth trial. During that time, they’d explored the capability of the Sakira. Marc always brought the discussion and exploration back to creating a sequence of what to introduce to Earth and when. Soon Blake got frustrated and bored and quit talking about it. It became Marc’s burden to bear. He created endless scenarios, trying to find one that would optimize the success of saving humanity from itself while preparing it for the eventual arrival of the Paraxeans.

  After they got home, Marc split his time between reviewing various scenarios and how he would relate to his daughter. It had been two years since the divorce and a year since her mother had moved with her from Cambridge to San Diego leaving three thousand miles between them. After that he’d left MIT and moved to Hawaii, not shortening the distance but giving them multiple direct flights between. He’d had Catie over Thanksgiving, but that seemed a lifetime ago.

  “Flight just landed,” Blake said. “You need to head to the gate. I’ll wait for you here. If I’m not here, just assume some pretty flight attendant picked me up and go on without me.”

  “Well, good luck with that,” Marc teased. “Catie will be sad to miss you.”

  “Okay, it’ll take a really pretty one. Now go.”

  Marc made his way through security, showing them his gate pass. He checked in at the gate and took a seat. Catie would probably be the last one off the flight since she was an unaccompanied minor. It took ten minutes for the plane to reach the gate and start to deplane. Marc stood up, walked to the counter, and watched anxiously as the passengers started to come out of the jetway. He was shocked to see Catie was one of the first to deplane.

  “Daddy!” Catie ran and grabbed her father into a big hug.

  “Hi, Sweetie!” Marc exclaimed, hugging her too. “You’ve gotten taller since last year!”

  “I’ve grown two inches,” Catie bragged. “Where is Uncle Blake?”

  “He’s waiting at the bar. We only could get one gate pass.”

  “Oh!”

  “Sir, I’ll need to see some ID. I assume you’re her father unless she goes around hugging every tall, good-looking man she finds,” the flight attendant said.

  “Yes, I’m her father,” Marc said as he pulled out his ID. “You haven’t been going around hugging other men, have you?” he teased Catie.

  “No, Daddy, I only hug you and Uncle Blake,” Catie said. “Daddy, this is Jackie.”

  “Hi,” Jackie said. “Catie’s been telling me all about you and her Uncle Blake.”

  “Uncle Blake looks like Daddy,” Catie said, “except he’s taller.”

  “And bigger, with bluer eyes, and funnier,” Marc said. “Sorry, standing joke in the family. Blake likes to point out all his advantages over me.”

  “That must get annoying,” Jackie said.

  “Not really, it’s just a big joke,” Marc said. “He’s two years younger, but we wound up trying to date the same girl a few times when we were in high school.”

  “Anyway,” Catie said. “Jackie is going to be vacationing in Hawaii for two weeks. I told her Uncle Blake would give her a ride on the Mea Huli. He will, won’t he?”

  “If she would like to go out on it, I’m sure he would be happy to take her,” Marc said.

  “It’s not necessary,” Jackie said.

  “It’ll be fun,” Catie said. “You could bring some friends even. Uncle Blake takes people out all the time.”

  “She’s right,” Marc said. “If you brought a bunch of girlfriends, he’d have a blast showing you around the islands.”

  “How many girlfriends?” Jackie asked with a laugh.

  “Oh, ten or twelve would be comfortable,” Marc said, “but he’d be able to accommodate twenty pretty easily.”

  “Oh, so it’s a tour boat.”

  “He uses it that way, but it’s really a luxury yacht.”

  “I told you it was big. It’s thirty-five meters,” Catie gushed. “With three decks,” she added.

  “Well, I might have to consider that,” Jackie said.

  Marc handed her his ID and signed the forms. “Here’s a card for the booking service. If you decide you want to go, tell them Marc sent you and give them this number.” Marc wrote a five-digit number on the back of the card. “That way they’ll know you’re a guest.”

  “Yeah, then you’ll get it all to yourselves,” Catie added.

  “I don’t think that would be right,” Jackie said.

  “Don’t worry, Catie invited you. The Mea Huli only goes out a few times a month. Blake has a cruise lined up for tomorrow and Friday, but then it’s open.”

  “I’ll check with my girlfriends,” Jackie said.

  “It’s okay to add some guys if you want,” Marc said, “just don’t tell Blake I told you.”

  “Oh, we might, but girls-only sounds like fun.”

  “I’m sure Blake would like that,” Marc laughed. “Don’t worry, he’s harmless.”

  “Bye,” Catie said.

  Marc took his daughter’s backpack and led her toward the baggage area to collect her luggage. “You trying to set your uncle up?”

  “Sure, I told her about his face. She said things like that don’t matter.”

  “I hope she takes you up on it.”

  “Me too.”

  “Now what do you want to do while you’re here?”

  “Anything, everything. We’ve got all summer. And I finished the book, so you have to teach me to scuba dive.”

  “Not a problem; it’ll be fun. Now we’re doing a cruise around the island tonight with Uncle Blake. Like I said, he’s got a charter tomorrow for two days. He wants to know if you want to crew.”

  “Are you going to come?”

  “Not this time. I have work to do to prepare for my presentation; it’s next week. After that, I’m totally free. Until then, you’ll have to get Uncle Blake to take you around. I’ll make sure I’m free at least four hours a day to do whatever you want.”

  “But if I crew with Uncle Blake, then you’ll work non-stop and maybe finish early.”

  “You’re very clever.”

  “I try. There’s my bag.”

  Marc grabbed the red suitcase and checked to see that is was indeed Catie’s. “Uncle Blake is just down this way,” Marc said, motioning to the left.

  They walked by the rest of baggage claim before they came to the bar where Marc had left Blake.

  “Where did he go?” Marc said. “No way he picked up someone,” he thought.

  “There he is,” Catie said. “He’s talking to that Navy guy.” Catie ran ahead and ducked into the bar. She ran up to the table and stopped next to Blake and gave him a hug. “Hi, Uncle Blake.”

  “Hi squirt,” Blake said. “Or should I say aloha squirt?”

  “You can leave off the squirt,” Catie said as she slugged her uncle.

  “Jimmy, this is my niece, Catie,” Blake said. “Catie, this is an old Navy buddy of mine, Commander Jackson.”

  “Hello,” Catie said and extended her hand.

  Cmdr. Jackson shook her hand and smiled. “Nice to meet you, Catie.”

  “Thank you. Are you a pilot like Uncle Blake?”

  “Yes I am. We flew together,” Cmdr. Jackson said.

  “And this is my brother, Marc,” Blake added as Marc caught up.

  “Commander Jackson, but call me Jimmy,” Cmdr. Jackson said as he and Marc shook hands.

  “Good luck catching a hop,” Blake said. “We’re off to play cruise director for Catie.”

  “Have fun.”

  Blake, Marc, and Catie made their way out of the terminal and to the taxi queue.

  ◆ ◆ ◆

  Marc knocked on the door to Catie’s room. “If you’re going to crew for Uncle Blake, you have to get up. It’s eleven o’clock, and his cruise starts at three; you need to be there by two.”

  “I’m up,” Catie hollered back.

  “Awake and in b
ed is not the same thing as up.”

  “Okay, okay. I’m officially out of bed,” Catie hollered back as she crawled out from under the sheets.

  “Do you want to stop for some lunch first?”

  “Yes, I’m dying for a pulled pork sandwich.”

  “Alright, then we need to leave by twelve-thirty.”

  “One o’clock,” Catie muttered to herself as she headed for the bathroom.

  ◆ ◆ ◆

  “How’s your sandwich?” Marc asked Catie.

  “Good,” Catie mumbled with her mouth full.

  “Don’t tell your mother I let you eat like this.”

  “Don’t worry, I won’t.”

  “How is your mother?”

  “You talked to her last week when we called.”

  “I know, but we never have a chance to talk, just you and me, where I can get the real story.”

  “Yeah, well, she’s okay. She works all the time and she’s still depressed.”

  “I thought so; is she seeing someone for it?”

  “Yeah, she has an appointment like once a week.”

  “That’s good.”

  “It’s not fair. It wasn’t Mommy’s fault. Even the review board said so.”

  “I know, but they lost their son, so they thought it had to be somebody’s fault.”

  “But they didn’t have to be so mean.”

  Catie’s mother had a patient brought in after suffering a stroke. While they were examining him and doing an MRI and CAT scan, he suffered a second, fatal stroke. His family refused to accept the review board ruling and sued. They used the press like a weapon vilifying Catie’s mother. It broke up her marriage with Marc, and after the divorce, she moved to San Diego to get away from the memories.

  “You’re right, but they were hurting, and they wanted everyone else to hurt just as much as they did. It wasn’t right, but your mother has to get past it.”

  “Do you think she will?”

  “I don’t know. Depression creates more depression. The body gets trained to release endorphins and hormones the wrong way, and it’s hard to retrain it. They have drugs that help, but the body seems to fight that.”

  “I wish they would come up with a better drug. Why can’t they use some kind of gene therapy to fix you.”

  “Hopefully they will one day.”