After the third try Angel couldn't call for help anymore. Two more gas grenades had gone off, obscuring her vision and making her breather work harder to scrub the air. She fired shots blindly into the gas and heard no successes. A figure came barreling out of the smoke, then another, and Angel turned to hand-to-hand combat. This was her preferred way of fighting anyway, but with her lungs burning from the early exposure to tear gas her ability to fight was impaired. Even her cloak wasn't entirely working here, not with her movements resulting in the gas shifting and changing.
She still managed a solid punch on the first attacker and put the second down with a kick. She heard a tone from her multidevice and glanced at it to see that the download had finished. Looking up Angel saw that the light at the end of the slip was now solid. She slipped over the desk and yanked the device out, moving it into her pocket in one solid motion. A Tac team member came through the smoke with his weapon raised. Angel fired her pistol off and sent him down before returning to Angelo.
Gunfire thundered in her ear. She turned with the gun, seeing the blue flares of the bullets striking her protective field, and fired a shot at the two men pouring submachine gun fire into her shields. The first went down and she focused on the second.
Painful impacts slammed into her field uniform as bullets went through her failed personal shield and slammed into her chest and shoulders. The protective fabrics and materials resisted the bullets but the sheer force still sent her down. "Target down!", she heard a man shout. "Tell Raines we have..."
Angel blocked the rest out. She grabbed Angelo, who was nearly unconscious from the tear gas, and stabbed her finger on her multidevice. "Delgado to Rio Grande, Emergency Passcode Delgado Alpha Alpha Tango Foxtrot 29, emergency beamup for two on my device location, now!" It was a risk, since there would be no operator if there was a problem with the transporter, but she was out of options.
The strike team members returned their attention to her. "Put your arms up! Arms where we can see them! Now!"
They were too late, as the Rio Grande's transporter snatched them away.
The sound of the transporter was heard in the cabin area. "What was that?", Lyle demanded.
"That was Angel coming back," Jarod answered. "A good thing we double-checked the automatic transporter systems, isn't it Lucy?"
"Yeah," Lucy replied, still focused on Lyle's gun. "And she's going to kick your ass for holding that girl hostage."
Angel entered with her gun ready, having heard Lucy. "I don't give a damn who you are, let the girl go or I'm dropping you," Angel remarked angrily.
"Lower your weapon or she dies," Lyle countered. "If you don't think I'll do it, ask Jarod."
"He would," Jarod confirmed. "But then he dies too. He knows that. It's over Lyle. Put the gun down and you can go home, I promise."
"Ha!" Lyle's laugh was harsh. "I can go back to get shot by the Triumvirate? No, the only way I leave this ship is with little Debbie here and Jarod. Or she dies. I am not going to back down."
Jarod drew in a breath and looked to Angel, who kept the gun focused on Lyle. "I saw what your people did to Angelo," Angel replied. "No way in hell I'm letting you win."
Lyle replied with another threat, but Lucy wasn't paying attention anymore. As she thought about how to get the gun, her mind wandered to Djamar Trading Station, where she had been held prisoner and she and Robert first met Meridina. She remembered Meridina's approach to guns pointed at her, namely, literally using her "swevyra" to yank the guns away. If only I had that.
But you do, a part of her mind thought. She thought about Abdyos - the Abdis of R4A1 - and how precisely she had landed the St. Johns without instrumentation. How she could feel what was right. Meridina had even told her that was her "swevyra", her "life force", working for her.
So if it worked there, why not here?
She looked to the weapon and focused intently. She thought of it flying to her hand. She imagined an invisible force from the depths of her soul, her being, grabbing the weapon and holding the trigger in place so it wouldn't shoot.
For a few moments nothing happened. She focused harder, breathing harder as she did. Lyle noticed her increased breath and looked toward her. As he did, his eyes diverted to his right hand, which was suddenly tremoring. "What....?"
It's working! Gasping, Lucy made one last great effort to yank at it.
Lyle cried out in surprise as the gun flew from his hand and into Lucy's.
He didn't get the chance to do more. Angel's pulse pistol sent a bolt of azure energy into his chest. Lyle fell over, stunned.
Lucy stood up from where she had been on the floor. Jarod and Angel were looking at her intently, as was Debbie. "Lucy..."
"I... I guess it worked," she muttered.
"How did you do that?", Angel asked in a low voice.
"I, well... I thought about some conversations I had with Meridina," Lucy admitted. "And I remembered that landing on Abydos. I remembered thinking I had some potential and... well... why not try?"
At this point it was too much for Debbie. She ran up to Jarod and started crying. "I want my Daddy!"
Jarod knelt down and embraced her. "We're going to bring him to you now, Debbie. I promise." He looked at Angel. "Angelo?"
"Recovering in the cockpit," she replied. "They used tear gas on us."
"I'd better get to him, then." Jarod picked Debbie up and looked Angel in the eye. "Thanks for getting him out."
"No problem." She smiled and winced. "Well, I'll be tender for a while. My shield failed, I took at least half a clip from an Uzi or something. A good thing we brought our field uniforms."
"Yeah," Jarod agreed. "Definitely a good thing."
"Next time, though, you're issuing me a helmet or no mission."
"Definitely," Jarod promised.
Zack eased the Susquehanna into lunar orbit, ensuring his father had the best view. He sat quietly and allowed Gerald to take in the sight. "Where are the stars?", he finally asked.
"You can't see them in space, there's no atmosphere," Zack explained. He hit a button and stars appeared in the cockpit. "But we set up a little program to show the positions of stars like you're on a planet."
"My God, it's gorgeous."
"So, Dad, ready to walk on the moon?"
That made his dad stare in befuddlement and wonderment. "You're serious."
"Yep." Zack smiled at him. "It'll only take a minute to get you in a suit."
"Then show me the flag," Gerald asked. "I want to see where Armstrong walked."
"Right. Let me bring that up on the history files now, and I'll take us right in."
The two Carreys stood on the moon, the elder looking around in amazement at the sight. "It's so beautiful." Gerald put a hand on Zack's arm. "Do you do things like this all of the time?"
"No," Zack replied. "I live on starships, mostly."
"I understand why you won't come home." Gerald's eyes focused on the distant horizon, where Earth was just starting to creep overhead. "What's it like on other worlds?"
"Well, it's..." Zack searched for the words, not wanting to disappoint his father. "Some worlds aren't any different from Earth. But you can find some that are completely different. And then there are space stations as big as a city. I mean, with thousands, even millions of people living in them. There are more people living in M4P2's Citadel Station than people in New York City, Dad."
"My God..."
For a minute neither man spoke. Gerald seemed to be deep in thought. "You want me to come with you, right?"
Zack nodded, the blue light inside his suit making the movement visible. "At least for the New Liberty celebration. And we can get Leo to examine you and see if there's something he can do."
Gerald stared into the black lunar sky and the distant Earth. "I'll go," he finally said. "Tomorrow, after I get some sleep."
"Dad, we've got beds on the Susquehanna."
"Yeah, I saw 'em." Gerald Carrey sighed. "Please, just humor your old man a little? I want to sleep in my own bed before heading off for something like this. As soon as I'm up we'll head out. But I want my bed tonight."
Zack drew in a breath. He didn't like waiting, but he could sense the feelings behind his father's words. He wanted that last night in his bed, in their family home, because he was thinking it could be the last night he'd ever get there. Impatience built within him; here he was, finally reconnecting with his father, and with time running out, but his Dad insisted on waiting over something minor like that.
Although, Zack had to admit, it wasn't very minor. They'd all worked for that house. It was theirs, as a family. He deserved to say goodbye.
"Okay Dad, it's a deal. Let's head on back and get you to bed."
Jarod beamed into Sydney's living room with a captive Lyle and nervous Debbie in tow. Sydney had done as planned, getting Broots and Miss Parker to come to his home. At seeing her father Debbie squealed, "Daddy!" and ran up to him, throwing her arms around his waist.
"Debbie?!" Broots received the hug despite his total shock, still trying to accept seeing three people appear out of thin air.
Sydney showed no surprise, having witnessed the transporter before. Instead he looked to Jarod with worry. "Jarod, where is Nicholas?"
"He's fine. He was hit with a stun level blast by Lyle, so he's being tended to up on the ship."
At that point Miss Parker's befuddlement found outlet in anger. "Just what the hell is going on?! Where in the hell did you come from, how did you...?"
"Transporter system," Jarod answered. He smiled at his old pursuer. "I've been somewhere the Centre can't reach. I came back to give you all a chance to come with me."
Miss Parker stared in bewilderment. "Excuse me?"
"It's not safe here for any of you, or anyone you love," Jarod pointed out. "The Centre has lost control, and now that we've stung them like this they'll be looking for someone to punish."
Broots lifted his daughter into his arms. "You don't need to convince me. I'll go anywhere and do anything to keep Debbie safe." He kissed his weeping daughter on the forehead, tears pouring from his eyes as well.
"And what about my father?", Miss Parker asked. "Are you going to let him go too?"
The question was sharp, and it had reason to be. Mr. Parker was an official of the Centre who had a vested interest in capturing Jarod, and Jarod knew the old man had done terrible things.
"Would he be willing to leave the Centre behind?"
Jarod's pointed question prompted silence in the room that lasted quite a while. Since the answer was evident to all, Sydney pointed out, "Miss Parker, we don't have a choice. The Triumvirate will come for us now, no matter what we say or do."
Miss Parker had tears in her eyes, showing the conflict inside of her. She knew Sydney was right. But she was also loyal to her father. The two forces were in soul-grinding conflict. Her hand reached to the small of her back and pulled out her gun, which she leveled at Jarod. "I could solve all of this by shooting you," she said to him.
Jarod shook his head. "You can't."
"Try me!"
"No, I mean you really can't," he explained. "I have a defense shield that protects me from modern small arms fire."
"You have to be nuts to think I'd believe something so ridiculous..."
"As ridiculous as appearing out of nowhere?", Jarod answered. "You'd be surprised what our technology lets us do."
Even as he said it, he knew it wouldn't stop her. Miss Parker pulled the trigger.
The shots made Debbie cry out and cling on to her father more tightly. Flashes of blue light briefly flared about an inch from Jarod's chest, joined by the distant tinkling as smashed bullets hit the tile floor. Miss Parker's eyes widened in complete shock. "No way."
"You're all dead."
Everyone looked to where Lyle was on the ground, bound by tie cords on his wrists and ankles. He glared up at them with sheer malice and hate. "Every one of you. You're all failures and the Triumvirate is going to put you down!"
Broots shifted himself to move his daughter away from Lyle. "You let Jarod beat you, Lyle. Do you think they're going to be happy with you?"
"Not when they have the proof of what Jarod can do! I'll convince them!"
"They'll..."
Before Broots could finish Jarod cut in. "They probably will. My friend Angel used this technology to shoot her way through the Centre."
All the eyes in the room widened. "You attacked the Centre?!", Miss Parker asked in a heated voice.
"I had to get Angelo out. And all of their data. They'll know what we took by now."
"They already do," Sydney said. He stood by the window and looked out of it. "A van just pulled in two houses up the street. I think it's a team. They must know I'm involved with you again, Jarod."
"We're out of time," Jarod said to Miss Parker. "Come with us. Please."
With all of the eyes on her, Miss Parker glanced around and looked like a tension wire ready to snap. Recognizing her conflict, Lyle spoke up again. "Daddy can't save you know, little girl," he taunted. "He'll be just as dead as you will."
Jarod looked out the window himself. Men came from the van. With their long coats and the way they moved, he knew they were armed.
"I can't leave my father to get blamed," Miss Parker insisted.
Jarod looked to Sydney, who nodded. He reached into his belt. "I know." As soon as he turned he brought his pulse pistol up and fired. The shot hit Miss Parker in the belly, causing her to double over and fall unconscious. "I'm sorry."
"We'll get you one day, Jarod," Lyle rasped. "Do you hear me?! We'll get you! The Centre will destroy you and everything you love for attacking us!"
Jarod frowned and stunned him as well. He walked over to where Miss Parker was collapsed on the ground and picked her up. His hand hit his multidevice. "Jarod to Rio Grande, five to beam up."
He heard the door get busted in and a male voice demand surrender. The next moment, the transporter whisked them all away, leaving Lyle for the Centre to deal with.
Somehow, Jarod suspected, it would have been more merciful if he'd set his pistol to kill when shooting Lyle that last time.
Lucy was sitting in the helm chair as the transporter fired one last time. Jarod stepped off with Broots. Debbie sprung from her chair beside Angel and latched onto her father, forcing him to shift the trash bag of family mementos from his apartment. "Are we going to a new home, Daddy?"
"Yes we are," he answered happily.
Jarod stepped into the central area of the runabout's control area. "Get ready to break from orbit, Lucy," he said before looking down at where Angelo was seated. Color had begun to return to Angelo's face and he looked less apprehensive on seeing Jarod. "How are you doing?"
He smiled at Jarod. "Okay. I feel better." He opened his hand to show the data drive device Jarod had beamed down to him when this began. "Got it," he said. "For us."
"Thank you," Jarod answered as Angelo handed him the data device. "I think we can get you the help you need."
"Even if you can't..." The words were almost stuttered. Angelo struck Lucy as having development issues. "...free. I'm free. Not going back to the Centre."
"Never again," Jarod promised. He gave the man a hug. "If you're tired, we've got cots in the back."
"I want to see the spaceship fly," Angelo answered. "Fly through the stars!"
"I think we can arrange that." Jarod looked to Lucy. "Take us home."
Lucy nodded and activated the warp drive.
A chime went off in the guest quarters, rousing Mastrash Karesl from his rest. He sat up on the bed and, with a gesture of his hand, applied enough life force against the comm button to make it activate. "Yes?"
One of the Aurora officers, a night shift ops officer, answered, "Sir, someone from Gersal is trying to reach you. Would you like me to put them through?"
"Please do that." Karesl turned in his bed to face the wall monitor. The face that appeared was his age, with a full gray beard where he was cleanshaven. "Mastrash Goras?"
"I see you were resting, Karesl. I forgot the time difference." The look on his face made clear that he probably hadn't. "What have you found?"
"At least one of the crew of this ship have great swevyra'se potential," Karesl confirmed.
"I see. And has Meridina done anything about this?"
"Nothing."
That seemed to take Goras by surprise. "Are you certain, Karesl? She hasn't tried to introduce them to our ways?"
"Not from what I ascertain. The officer's swevyra is strong, but untapped, raw. He has not been trained in any way."
Goras seemed to digest this news unhappily. "How unexpected. Ledosh has undoubtedly made his will known to her."
"Likely. She is rather certain that they are from the Prophecy."
"Foolishness. Ledosh has poisoned her mind. The man is too clever by far. And I had been hoping to have something to show to the Council."
"Give it time, Mastrash," Karesl replied. "Sooner or later, things will develop as they should."
"I hope it comes sooner, my friend. Every day the Alliance's hold on the hearts of our people grows. Gersal must be diverted from this path of dependency."
"It will come. I know it in my heard, Mastrash. Our evidence will come. And we will succeed in convincing the people to withdraw." Karesl nodded. "And that way our people will be saved."
"Let us hope so, Karesl. Let us hope that blasted prophecy does not come true after all. It could be the end of everything..."
"Mi rake sa swevyra iso, Goras."
"Mi rake sa swevyra iso, Karesl. Make your swevyra give you helpful visions as you dream." Goras' image disappeared from the screen.
Karesl breathed in a sigh and laid back on the bed to resume his rest.
The following morning Zack woke up feeling content, even refreshed. For the first time in years he thought he and his Dad had a real bond and that things were going to be farther. He knew it hadn't been easy for Gerald Carrey to admit to mistakes and the fact that he had...
It's for the better. We'll be a family again. We'll be a real family again.
After getting a glass of milk to wet his throat a little, Zack walked into the living room to go into the bedroom hall beyond - his old room had been behind the garage while his parents' room was on the other end of the house. He stopped for a moment to see Clara still asleep on the sofa. He knew she'd gone to bed weeping and felt bad at lashing out at her. He wasn't sure how to handle whatever feelings he had for her, but...
"I'm sorry, Clara. I'll make it up to you," he whispered. As he gently put the sheet back on her from where it'd fallen off during the night, he wondered about his father urging him to consider Clara as a partner. He could see why. He wondered if he should. It wasn't like Julia was going to...
No. He wasn't going to think about Julia today. Today was about him and his Dad. He'd handle that re-opened wound when he came to it.
Zack finished the glass of milk and went into the bedroom. He knew his Dad had been through a long night, but with the sun out and bright it seemed like he'd be up or ready to get up. He knocked at the door. "Dad! It's almost nine in the morning, Dad." When there was no grumbling or shouts from the other end he opened the door. "Dad..."
He focused on his father on the bed, dead to the world. Drawing in a sigh Zack took the five steps to the side of the bed and...
...noticed the blue lips and colorless skin of his father.
And every dream he'd had since returning from their flight to the Moon drained away.
Right away Zack knew it was too late for anything. He'd seen enough dead bodies over the past few years, of people he and the others were too late to save. But a part of him rejected this. "Dad!", he called out, putting his hand on his father's bare shoulder and pushing at it. His body was rigid and his skin cold. "Dad! DAD!"
In the living room Clara jolted upright in the sofa at hearing Zack's anguished voice. She ran into the bedroom and found him laying over the bed, holding his dead father and crying.
It took twenty minutes for paramedics to get there. They hadn't been in too big a hurry since it had been clear that there was no one to save. The lead paramedic, a face Zack barely remembered from school, took Gerald's vitals and pronounced him to be dead. The deputies for the county sheriff came next. They were polite. Zack remembered one as a common face at the high school baseball games he'd played in. They asked how he'd found his father. And they asked about the previous night. Zack explained their outing.
"Wait, you flew your Dad to the Moon?!", one of them asked, incredulous.
"My runabout's right out front," Zack said weakly. "I can show you the footage if you want."
Naturally they wanted to, and they wanted copies. Zack took them out to the Susquehanna and let them watch the ship's flight log and external log from the moonwalk. He replicated a DVD-format disc with the records on it as well as their life sign readings during the excursion.
This satisfied them enough that they said nothing while the coroner secured Gerald. Zack kissed his father's forehead before the bag was zipped up and he was taken out.
He stumbled into the living room and collapsed into his Dad's recliner. Clara walked up to him. "Zack, if you need anything..."
"Not now, Clara," he said weakly. "Not now. I've... I've got things to do now, so many things..."
Everyone on the Rio Grande was watching as a transport ship, responding to Jarod's request, opened the jump point back home for them. The runabout accelerated through the point and found the Aurora waiting for them on the other end. "How big is that thing?"
Jarod looked to Broots. "A kilometer long, over three hundred meters wide, a hundred meters tall. I helped build it. Not in a big way, but enough to be proud of her."
"She's beautiful, Jarod, you should be proud," Sydney assured him. He looked away while Angel secured landing permission, finding Miss Parker standing by herself near the cabin door. He took the three steps from where he was to where she was standing. "Are you all right?"
"I still can't believe this. This is insane, Sydney. This is so completely insane."
"It's a shock," Sydney agreed. "But Jarod has done us a favor. The Centre was going to come for us soon, even if he hadn't come back. You have to know that."
"And what about my father, Sydney? What do you think Raines or the Triumvirate will do to him?"
Sydney shook his head. "I can't be sure. Mister Parker is an exceptional man, however. He has a knack for survival and I'm sure he will find a way."
"it's not good enough, though," she muttered. "Not nearly good enough. And now we get to be Jarod's pets."
"Would you rather go back?"
The question was pointed and direct. Miss Parker remained quiet for a moment. "Sure, Sydney. I'll go back and take a bullet to the head. It'll be nice and quick." She put a hand on her forehead. "Dammit, i need a cigarette."
Their conversation ended as the ship landed in the Aurora shuttle bay. "And we're home," Angel sighed. "With a day to spare."
"To spare for what?", Debbie asked.
"The third anniversary celebration for the New Liberty Colony," Jarod explained. You're all invited. It'll be fun."
"Yippee," Miss Parker grumbled.
With appropriate phone calls made to long-distant family that Zack never really liked, he started packing up mementos and family valuables, taking the ones he planned on keeping to the Susquehanna and setting aside the other ones for his cousins. His father had made being in a family tough, but most Carreys were familiar with the problems of alcohol and that side, at least, would be coming in over the next several days for his father's service.
Working like this had the advantage that it was something to do, something to get his mind off of the pain in his heart. Two days ago he wondered if he'd ever see his father alive again and wasn't sure he wanted to; now he'd had the hope of a better relationship with him and now... now there was nothing.
It was in the early afternoon when Zack was setting a box of pictures in the Susquehanna, just to hear the comm system go off. Before he could get to the station it relayed to his multidevice, allowing him to answer on it. "Hello," he answered.
"Hey Zack." It was Julia. "The big day is tomorrow, I was wondering if you were going to make it back?"
"I... I don't know," he admitted. His voice caught in his throat and he could see her expression shift to concern. He forced himself to find his voice. "Julie, my Dad died this morning."
He could hear her gasp through the comm link. "Oh God. I'm so sorry, Zack. I'm... I'm sorry. Is there anything we can do?"
"Tell everyone I probably won't make it to the celebration," he replied. "I've got to get things set up. I've got papers to sign, family to contact... a funeral to plan. That kind of thing."
"I'll let everyone know. We'll all be there for you."
"Thanks," he answered. "I'll appreciate that. Carrey out." He ended the call.
And then, because he felt the pain coming back, he went back to work.
Meridina was pleased that the second day of touring for Karesl went smoothly. So smoothly that he had opted to return planetside, requiring only a brief trip back to the assigned quarters before escorting him to a transporter room. "Is this what you believe is our future, Meridina?", Karesl asked.
"Yes," she answered.
"You should be the commander of this vessel. Being a mere subordinate is beneath your abilities."
"No, Mastrash, it is not," was her reply. "I am doing an important service in this post and I wish to continue that."
"I wish I could convince you otherwise, Meridina." Karesl shook his head. "Should a wedge ever come between our people and the Allied Systems, you may regret this choice."
"Then I must prevent such a wedge from forming." Meridina tried to control her apprehension. Was he warning her of a plot of some sort? Or was it simple talk? She couldn't tell. He was always hard for her to read.
"Somehow I'm not sure your efforts alone would suffice."
She chose not to continue the conversation.
When they arrived at the transporter room Meridina was quite surprised to see Jarod there, standing near the transporter operator with Lucy and Angel. A number of people were nearby wearing clothes Meridina associated with Robert and the others; clearly they were from Jarod's Earth. "Lieutenant Draynal already has the paperwork," Jarod said to her. "They're going to meet with Beth today about getting emergency residency set up."
"I am pleased you returned unhurt, Commander," Meridina said.
"He did, I'm the one who got shot at," Angel complained, but with a sardonic smile.
Meridina nodded at her before looking to the transporter operator. "Chief Mayga, are they in the queue ahead of my scheduled transport."
"No ma'am," the tan-skinned Gersallian woman replied. "The Mastrash is clear to beam down first."
Meridina nodded and looked to her father, who was looking at Lucy. Lucy clearly noticed the look and gave it back. "Can I help you, sir?", she asked.
"Nothing, Lieutenant. I was simply enjoying the sense of happiness I feel here. It is good to see positive thoughts like that, it makes swevyra stronger." Karesl stepped up onto the pad. "Mi rake sa swevyra iso, Meridina."
"Mi rake sa swevyra iso, Mastrash Karesl," Meridina replied, bowing slightly. "Chief, energize."
After Karesl disappeared Sydney turned to Jarod. "I'm not sure I've ever heard a language like that before. Where are they from?"
"Gersal," Jarod replied. "They're not Humans."
"But they look..."
"Convergent evolution, Sydney." Jarod nodded to Meridina. "Sorry if we got in your way, Commander. I'm going down with them as an advocate."
"Robert is already on the planet, Commander Jarod, I'm sure he'll provide assistance," she answered. "And I suspect Commander Andreys will gladly invite them to join us for the celebration tomorrow."
"She already did," Jarod replied. He stepped up on the transporter platform. Debbie almost dragged her father into place beside him. Angel was the lst to step up, standing beside Miss Parker. "Energize."
Clara had gone part of the day to report to the nursing service she worked for and file the paperwork on Gerald Carrey's death. When she returned she found Zack sitting in his bed, a box of family photos on his lap and one framed photo in his hands. "Dad used to be good at controlling the habit," he remarked quietly. "I mean, up until I was about twelve I thought we had the happiest family you could have. I didn't know how badly my mother's family hated him, or how his family felt about him. I hadn't learned about our little family problem."
"He wanted to be a good Dad," Clara said. "He just couldn't control it."
"He must have talked a lot with you," Zack said quietly.
"I sort of started it," Clara admitted. "I mean,,, yeah, I started it because of you. I was hoping he would tell me why you had left. He was mad at you about it and said some, well..."
"Don't worry about it." Zack shook his head. "I'm just happy he had someone to talk to." After taking in a breath that sounded like a sigh, he continued, "I've always wanted to hate him. Well, I've actually felt a lot of hate for him. But I wish... Clara, it's just so complicated. Dad ruined my baseball career. He drove mother sick. He feuded with everyone. He made my life miserable." With tears at the corners of his eyes, Zack stopped for a moment. "But he was my Dad. And I know he loved me. And he was ready to be a family again, but I came back too damn late..."
"Zack, you don't have to tear yourself up over it."
He shook his head at that. "Clara, there were days... oh God... there were days where I wanted this," he confessed. "Where I was so tired of his drinking and his put-downs and the contempt and... I wanted him to die, Clara. I just wanted it over with! And now I've gotten that wish when I never..."
If he had expected Clara to react angrily, he was disappointed. All she did was shake her head and set her hand on his shoulder. "You really didn't mean that. Sometimes, Zack, we think things because we're angry and upset, we don't really mean them."
Zack heard her words, but he was already jumping from one shame to the next in his head. He thought of Adrana and how the computer being there had felt, in his heart, a desire to see his friend Robert dead to clear the way for him to be with Julia. He wondered if that thought had grown from his thoughts about his father.
"Clara, I've got a dark side," he admitted. "I've seen it. There's a part of me that would..." He swallowed, unwilling to admit what happened in his head. It was too shameful. "I've come to realize lately that I need to be honest with myself about things. About who I am, what I am. And who I want to be with."
"You mean Julia?", Clara asked quietly. A little too quietly. The quiet tone that indicated disappointment mixed with a feeling of, one would guess, inevitability.
Zack noticed that in her face. "Yeah. I know she's not interested but..."
Clara shook her head at him. "Zack, tell her how you feel."
"I can't."
"Why?"
"Because I know she'll say no," he answered.
"Oh." Clara gave a gentle nod. "But wouldn't that be better? You know it's not going to happen but you... you're just torturing yourself if you don't get a definite answer. Otherwise you think that maybe, just maybe, they'll say yes in the future. Maybe they'll come to you or something will happen and..."
Zack put a finger to her lips. "Clara, it's okay. You're right that it's something I should consider doing. But I'm going to do it on my time, okay? My time." He put the photo back in the box. "Well, I need to get finished. Got to get the house ready for everyone."
"Your family is actually coming?"
"A few. My dad's only surviving sibling, some of my cousins. Not as many as we have. Dad didn't have many friends in the family." Zack sighed. "And I have to see if there's a minister or pastor willing to hold the service. I'm not looking forward to seeing Pastor Allen again."
"Oh, you won't, he left about fifteen months ago," Clara answered. "We've got some new guy, a young kid from one of the Bible colleges."
"And he never met Dad?"
"Only a couple of times when we asked, when your Dad's condition started getting worse. They got along."
"Good. He'll be more likely to do it then."
Clara's mouth opened slightly. "Um, Zack..."
"Yes?" He looked toward her.
For a moment it seemed like she would ask something, but at the last moment she held off. "Nothing. Just.... I'll talk to you later, okay?"
"Sure." He nodded and watched her go. This freed him to go back into his thoughts.
She still managed a solid punch on the first attacker and put the second down with a kick. She heard a tone from her multidevice and glanced at it to see that the download had finished. Looking up Angel saw that the light at the end of the slip was now solid. She slipped over the desk and yanked the device out, moving it into her pocket in one solid motion. A Tac team member came through the smoke with his weapon raised. Angel fired her pistol off and sent him down before returning to Angelo.
Gunfire thundered in her ear. She turned with the gun, seeing the blue flares of the bullets striking her protective field, and fired a shot at the two men pouring submachine gun fire into her shields. The first went down and she focused on the second.
Painful impacts slammed into her field uniform as bullets went through her failed personal shield and slammed into her chest and shoulders. The protective fabrics and materials resisted the bullets but the sheer force still sent her down. "Target down!", she heard a man shout. "Tell Raines we have..."
Angel blocked the rest out. She grabbed Angelo, who was nearly unconscious from the tear gas, and stabbed her finger on her multidevice. "Delgado to Rio Grande, Emergency Passcode Delgado Alpha Alpha Tango Foxtrot 29, emergency beamup for two on my device location, now!" It was a risk, since there would be no operator if there was a problem with the transporter, but she was out of options.
The strike team members returned their attention to her. "Put your arms up! Arms where we can see them! Now!"
They were too late, as the Rio Grande's transporter snatched them away.
The sound of the transporter was heard in the cabin area. "What was that?", Lyle demanded.
"That was Angel coming back," Jarod answered. "A good thing we double-checked the automatic transporter systems, isn't it Lucy?"
"Yeah," Lucy replied, still focused on Lyle's gun. "And she's going to kick your ass for holding that girl hostage."
Angel entered with her gun ready, having heard Lucy. "I don't give a damn who you are, let the girl go or I'm dropping you," Angel remarked angrily.
"Lower your weapon or she dies," Lyle countered. "If you don't think I'll do it, ask Jarod."
"He would," Jarod confirmed. "But then he dies too. He knows that. It's over Lyle. Put the gun down and you can go home, I promise."
"Ha!" Lyle's laugh was harsh. "I can go back to get shot by the Triumvirate? No, the only way I leave this ship is with little Debbie here and Jarod. Or she dies. I am not going to back down."
Jarod drew in a breath and looked to Angel, who kept the gun focused on Lyle. "I saw what your people did to Angelo," Angel replied. "No way in hell I'm letting you win."
Lyle replied with another threat, but Lucy wasn't paying attention anymore. As she thought about how to get the gun, her mind wandered to Djamar Trading Station, where she had been held prisoner and she and Robert first met Meridina. She remembered Meridina's approach to guns pointed at her, namely, literally using her "swevyra" to yank the guns away. If only I had that.
But you do, a part of her mind thought. She thought about Abdyos - the Abdis of R4A1 - and how precisely she had landed the St. Johns without instrumentation. How she could feel what was right. Meridina had even told her that was her "swevyra", her "life force", working for her.
So if it worked there, why not here?
She looked to the weapon and focused intently. She thought of it flying to her hand. She imagined an invisible force from the depths of her soul, her being, grabbing the weapon and holding the trigger in place so it wouldn't shoot.
For a few moments nothing happened. She focused harder, breathing harder as she did. Lyle noticed her increased breath and looked toward her. As he did, his eyes diverted to his right hand, which was suddenly tremoring. "What....?"
It's working! Gasping, Lucy made one last great effort to yank at it.
Lyle cried out in surprise as the gun flew from his hand and into Lucy's.
He didn't get the chance to do more. Angel's pulse pistol sent a bolt of azure energy into his chest. Lyle fell over, stunned.
Lucy stood up from where she had been on the floor. Jarod and Angel were looking at her intently, as was Debbie. "Lucy..."
"I... I guess it worked," she muttered.
"How did you do that?", Angel asked in a low voice.
"I, well... I thought about some conversations I had with Meridina," Lucy admitted. "And I remembered that landing on Abydos. I remembered thinking I had some potential and... well... why not try?"
At this point it was too much for Debbie. She ran up to Jarod and started crying. "I want my Daddy!"
Jarod knelt down and embraced her. "We're going to bring him to you now, Debbie. I promise." He looked at Angel. "Angelo?"
"Recovering in the cockpit," she replied. "They used tear gas on us."
"I'd better get to him, then." Jarod picked Debbie up and looked Angel in the eye. "Thanks for getting him out."
"No problem." She smiled and winced. "Well, I'll be tender for a while. My shield failed, I took at least half a clip from an Uzi or something. A good thing we brought our field uniforms."
"Yeah," Jarod agreed. "Definitely a good thing."
"Next time, though, you're issuing me a helmet or no mission."
"Definitely," Jarod promised.
Zack eased the Susquehanna into lunar orbit, ensuring his father had the best view. He sat quietly and allowed Gerald to take in the sight. "Where are the stars?", he finally asked.
"You can't see them in space, there's no atmosphere," Zack explained. He hit a button and stars appeared in the cockpit. "But we set up a little program to show the positions of stars like you're on a planet."
"My God, it's gorgeous."
"So, Dad, ready to walk on the moon?"
That made his dad stare in befuddlement and wonderment. "You're serious."
"Yep." Zack smiled at him. "It'll only take a minute to get you in a suit."
"Then show me the flag," Gerald asked. "I want to see where Armstrong walked."
"Right. Let me bring that up on the history files now, and I'll take us right in."
The two Carreys stood on the moon, the elder looking around in amazement at the sight. "It's so beautiful." Gerald put a hand on Zack's arm. "Do you do things like this all of the time?"
"No," Zack replied. "I live on starships, mostly."
"I understand why you won't come home." Gerald's eyes focused on the distant horizon, where Earth was just starting to creep overhead. "What's it like on other worlds?"
"Well, it's..." Zack searched for the words, not wanting to disappoint his father. "Some worlds aren't any different from Earth. But you can find some that are completely different. And then there are space stations as big as a city. I mean, with thousands, even millions of people living in them. There are more people living in M4P2's Citadel Station than people in New York City, Dad."
"My God..."
For a minute neither man spoke. Gerald seemed to be deep in thought. "You want me to come with you, right?"
Zack nodded, the blue light inside his suit making the movement visible. "At least for the New Liberty celebration. And we can get Leo to examine you and see if there's something he can do."
Gerald stared into the black lunar sky and the distant Earth. "I'll go," he finally said. "Tomorrow, after I get some sleep."
"Dad, we've got beds on the Susquehanna."
"Yeah, I saw 'em." Gerald Carrey sighed. "Please, just humor your old man a little? I want to sleep in my own bed before heading off for something like this. As soon as I'm up we'll head out. But I want my bed tonight."
Zack drew in a breath. He didn't like waiting, but he could sense the feelings behind his father's words. He wanted that last night in his bed, in their family home, because he was thinking it could be the last night he'd ever get there. Impatience built within him; here he was, finally reconnecting with his father, and with time running out, but his Dad insisted on waiting over something minor like that.
Although, Zack had to admit, it wasn't very minor. They'd all worked for that house. It was theirs, as a family. He deserved to say goodbye.
"Okay Dad, it's a deal. Let's head on back and get you to bed."
Jarod beamed into Sydney's living room with a captive Lyle and nervous Debbie in tow. Sydney had done as planned, getting Broots and Miss Parker to come to his home. At seeing her father Debbie squealed, "Daddy!" and ran up to him, throwing her arms around his waist.
"Debbie?!" Broots received the hug despite his total shock, still trying to accept seeing three people appear out of thin air.
Sydney showed no surprise, having witnessed the transporter before. Instead he looked to Jarod with worry. "Jarod, where is Nicholas?"
"He's fine. He was hit with a stun level blast by Lyle, so he's being tended to up on the ship."
At that point Miss Parker's befuddlement found outlet in anger. "Just what the hell is going on?! Where in the hell did you come from, how did you...?"
"Transporter system," Jarod answered. He smiled at his old pursuer. "I've been somewhere the Centre can't reach. I came back to give you all a chance to come with me."
Miss Parker stared in bewilderment. "Excuse me?"
"It's not safe here for any of you, or anyone you love," Jarod pointed out. "The Centre has lost control, and now that we've stung them like this they'll be looking for someone to punish."
Broots lifted his daughter into his arms. "You don't need to convince me. I'll go anywhere and do anything to keep Debbie safe." He kissed his weeping daughter on the forehead, tears pouring from his eyes as well.
"And what about my father?", Miss Parker asked. "Are you going to let him go too?"
The question was sharp, and it had reason to be. Mr. Parker was an official of the Centre who had a vested interest in capturing Jarod, and Jarod knew the old man had done terrible things.
"Would he be willing to leave the Centre behind?"
Jarod's pointed question prompted silence in the room that lasted quite a while. Since the answer was evident to all, Sydney pointed out, "Miss Parker, we don't have a choice. The Triumvirate will come for us now, no matter what we say or do."
Miss Parker had tears in her eyes, showing the conflict inside of her. She knew Sydney was right. But she was also loyal to her father. The two forces were in soul-grinding conflict. Her hand reached to the small of her back and pulled out her gun, which she leveled at Jarod. "I could solve all of this by shooting you," she said to him.
Jarod shook his head. "You can't."
"Try me!"
"No, I mean you really can't," he explained. "I have a defense shield that protects me from modern small arms fire."
"You have to be nuts to think I'd believe something so ridiculous..."
"As ridiculous as appearing out of nowhere?", Jarod answered. "You'd be surprised what our technology lets us do."
Even as he said it, he knew it wouldn't stop her. Miss Parker pulled the trigger.
The shots made Debbie cry out and cling on to her father more tightly. Flashes of blue light briefly flared about an inch from Jarod's chest, joined by the distant tinkling as smashed bullets hit the tile floor. Miss Parker's eyes widened in complete shock. "No way."
"You're all dead."
Everyone looked to where Lyle was on the ground, bound by tie cords on his wrists and ankles. He glared up at them with sheer malice and hate. "Every one of you. You're all failures and the Triumvirate is going to put you down!"
Broots shifted himself to move his daughter away from Lyle. "You let Jarod beat you, Lyle. Do you think they're going to be happy with you?"
"Not when they have the proof of what Jarod can do! I'll convince them!"
"They'll..."
Before Broots could finish Jarod cut in. "They probably will. My friend Angel used this technology to shoot her way through the Centre."
All the eyes in the room widened. "You attacked the Centre?!", Miss Parker asked in a heated voice.
"I had to get Angelo out. And all of their data. They'll know what we took by now."
"They already do," Sydney said. He stood by the window and looked out of it. "A van just pulled in two houses up the street. I think it's a team. They must know I'm involved with you again, Jarod."
"We're out of time," Jarod said to Miss Parker. "Come with us. Please."
With all of the eyes on her, Miss Parker glanced around and looked like a tension wire ready to snap. Recognizing her conflict, Lyle spoke up again. "Daddy can't save you know, little girl," he taunted. "He'll be just as dead as you will."
Jarod looked out the window himself. Men came from the van. With their long coats and the way they moved, he knew they were armed.
"I can't leave my father to get blamed," Miss Parker insisted.
Jarod looked to Sydney, who nodded. He reached into his belt. "I know." As soon as he turned he brought his pulse pistol up and fired. The shot hit Miss Parker in the belly, causing her to double over and fall unconscious. "I'm sorry."
"We'll get you one day, Jarod," Lyle rasped. "Do you hear me?! We'll get you! The Centre will destroy you and everything you love for attacking us!"
Jarod frowned and stunned him as well. He walked over to where Miss Parker was collapsed on the ground and picked her up. His hand hit his multidevice. "Jarod to Rio Grande, five to beam up."
He heard the door get busted in and a male voice demand surrender. The next moment, the transporter whisked them all away, leaving Lyle for the Centre to deal with.
Somehow, Jarod suspected, it would have been more merciful if he'd set his pistol to kill when shooting Lyle that last time.
Lucy was sitting in the helm chair as the transporter fired one last time. Jarod stepped off with Broots. Debbie sprung from her chair beside Angel and latched onto her father, forcing him to shift the trash bag of family mementos from his apartment. "Are we going to a new home, Daddy?"
"Yes we are," he answered happily.
Jarod stepped into the central area of the runabout's control area. "Get ready to break from orbit, Lucy," he said before looking down at where Angelo was seated. Color had begun to return to Angelo's face and he looked less apprehensive on seeing Jarod. "How are you doing?"
He smiled at Jarod. "Okay. I feel better." He opened his hand to show the data drive device Jarod had beamed down to him when this began. "Got it," he said. "For us."
"Thank you," Jarod answered as Angelo handed him the data device. "I think we can get you the help you need."
"Even if you can't..." The words were almost stuttered. Angelo struck Lucy as having development issues. "...free. I'm free. Not going back to the Centre."
"Never again," Jarod promised. He gave the man a hug. "If you're tired, we've got cots in the back."
"I want to see the spaceship fly," Angelo answered. "Fly through the stars!"
"I think we can arrange that." Jarod looked to Lucy. "Take us home."
Lucy nodded and activated the warp drive.
A chime went off in the guest quarters, rousing Mastrash Karesl from his rest. He sat up on the bed and, with a gesture of his hand, applied enough life force against the comm button to make it activate. "Yes?"
One of the Aurora officers, a night shift ops officer, answered, "Sir, someone from Gersal is trying to reach you. Would you like me to put them through?"
"Please do that." Karesl turned in his bed to face the wall monitor. The face that appeared was his age, with a full gray beard where he was cleanshaven. "Mastrash Goras?"
"I see you were resting, Karesl. I forgot the time difference." The look on his face made clear that he probably hadn't. "What have you found?"
"At least one of the crew of this ship have great swevyra'se potential," Karesl confirmed.
"I see. And has Meridina done anything about this?"
"Nothing."
That seemed to take Goras by surprise. "Are you certain, Karesl? She hasn't tried to introduce them to our ways?"
"Not from what I ascertain. The officer's swevyra is strong, but untapped, raw. He has not been trained in any way."
Goras seemed to digest this news unhappily. "How unexpected. Ledosh has undoubtedly made his will known to her."
"Likely. She is rather certain that they are from the Prophecy."
"Foolishness. Ledosh has poisoned her mind. The man is too clever by far. And I had been hoping to have something to show to the Council."
"Give it time, Mastrash," Karesl replied. "Sooner or later, things will develop as they should."
"I hope it comes sooner, my friend. Every day the Alliance's hold on the hearts of our people grows. Gersal must be diverted from this path of dependency."
"It will come. I know it in my heard, Mastrash. Our evidence will come. And we will succeed in convincing the people to withdraw." Karesl nodded. "And that way our people will be saved."
"Let us hope so, Karesl. Let us hope that blasted prophecy does not come true after all. It could be the end of everything..."
"Mi rake sa swevyra iso, Goras."
"Mi rake sa swevyra iso, Karesl. Make your swevyra give you helpful visions as you dream." Goras' image disappeared from the screen.
Karesl breathed in a sigh and laid back on the bed to resume his rest.
The following morning Zack woke up feeling content, even refreshed. For the first time in years he thought he and his Dad had a real bond and that things were going to be farther. He knew it hadn't been easy for Gerald Carrey to admit to mistakes and the fact that he had...
It's for the better. We'll be a family again. We'll be a real family again.
After getting a glass of milk to wet his throat a little, Zack walked into the living room to go into the bedroom hall beyond - his old room had been behind the garage while his parents' room was on the other end of the house. He stopped for a moment to see Clara still asleep on the sofa. He knew she'd gone to bed weeping and felt bad at lashing out at her. He wasn't sure how to handle whatever feelings he had for her, but...
"I'm sorry, Clara. I'll make it up to you," he whispered. As he gently put the sheet back on her from where it'd fallen off during the night, he wondered about his father urging him to consider Clara as a partner. He could see why. He wondered if he should. It wasn't like Julia was going to...
No. He wasn't going to think about Julia today. Today was about him and his Dad. He'd handle that re-opened wound when he came to it.
Zack finished the glass of milk and went into the bedroom. He knew his Dad had been through a long night, but with the sun out and bright it seemed like he'd be up or ready to get up. He knocked at the door. "Dad! It's almost nine in the morning, Dad." When there was no grumbling or shouts from the other end he opened the door. "Dad..."
He focused on his father on the bed, dead to the world. Drawing in a sigh Zack took the five steps to the side of the bed and...
...noticed the blue lips and colorless skin of his father.
And every dream he'd had since returning from their flight to the Moon drained away.
Right away Zack knew it was too late for anything. He'd seen enough dead bodies over the past few years, of people he and the others were too late to save. But a part of him rejected this. "Dad!", he called out, putting his hand on his father's bare shoulder and pushing at it. His body was rigid and his skin cold. "Dad! DAD!"
In the living room Clara jolted upright in the sofa at hearing Zack's anguished voice. She ran into the bedroom and found him laying over the bed, holding his dead father and crying.
It took twenty minutes for paramedics to get there. They hadn't been in too big a hurry since it had been clear that there was no one to save. The lead paramedic, a face Zack barely remembered from school, took Gerald's vitals and pronounced him to be dead. The deputies for the county sheriff came next. They were polite. Zack remembered one as a common face at the high school baseball games he'd played in. They asked how he'd found his father. And they asked about the previous night. Zack explained their outing.
"Wait, you flew your Dad to the Moon?!", one of them asked, incredulous.
"My runabout's right out front," Zack said weakly. "I can show you the footage if you want."
Naturally they wanted to, and they wanted copies. Zack took them out to the Susquehanna and let them watch the ship's flight log and external log from the moonwalk. He replicated a DVD-format disc with the records on it as well as their life sign readings during the excursion.
This satisfied them enough that they said nothing while the coroner secured Gerald. Zack kissed his father's forehead before the bag was zipped up and he was taken out.
He stumbled into the living room and collapsed into his Dad's recliner. Clara walked up to him. "Zack, if you need anything..."
"Not now, Clara," he said weakly. "Not now. I've... I've got things to do now, so many things..."
Everyone on the Rio Grande was watching as a transport ship, responding to Jarod's request, opened the jump point back home for them. The runabout accelerated through the point and found the Aurora waiting for them on the other end. "How big is that thing?"
Jarod looked to Broots. "A kilometer long, over three hundred meters wide, a hundred meters tall. I helped build it. Not in a big way, but enough to be proud of her."
"She's beautiful, Jarod, you should be proud," Sydney assured him. He looked away while Angel secured landing permission, finding Miss Parker standing by herself near the cabin door. He took the three steps from where he was to where she was standing. "Are you all right?"
"I still can't believe this. This is insane, Sydney. This is so completely insane."
"It's a shock," Sydney agreed. "But Jarod has done us a favor. The Centre was going to come for us soon, even if he hadn't come back. You have to know that."
"And what about my father, Sydney? What do you think Raines or the Triumvirate will do to him?"
Sydney shook his head. "I can't be sure. Mister Parker is an exceptional man, however. He has a knack for survival and I'm sure he will find a way."
"it's not good enough, though," she muttered. "Not nearly good enough. And now we get to be Jarod's pets."
"Would you rather go back?"
The question was pointed and direct. Miss Parker remained quiet for a moment. "Sure, Sydney. I'll go back and take a bullet to the head. It'll be nice and quick." She put a hand on her forehead. "Dammit, i need a cigarette."
Their conversation ended as the ship landed in the Aurora shuttle bay. "And we're home," Angel sighed. "With a day to spare."
"To spare for what?", Debbie asked.
"The third anniversary celebration for the New Liberty Colony," Jarod explained. You're all invited. It'll be fun."
"Yippee," Miss Parker grumbled.
With appropriate phone calls made to long-distant family that Zack never really liked, he started packing up mementos and family valuables, taking the ones he planned on keeping to the Susquehanna and setting aside the other ones for his cousins. His father had made being in a family tough, but most Carreys were familiar with the problems of alcohol and that side, at least, would be coming in over the next several days for his father's service.
Working like this had the advantage that it was something to do, something to get his mind off of the pain in his heart. Two days ago he wondered if he'd ever see his father alive again and wasn't sure he wanted to; now he'd had the hope of a better relationship with him and now... now there was nothing.
It was in the early afternoon when Zack was setting a box of pictures in the Susquehanna, just to hear the comm system go off. Before he could get to the station it relayed to his multidevice, allowing him to answer on it. "Hello," he answered.
"Hey Zack." It was Julia. "The big day is tomorrow, I was wondering if you were going to make it back?"
"I... I don't know," he admitted. His voice caught in his throat and he could see her expression shift to concern. He forced himself to find his voice. "Julie, my Dad died this morning."
He could hear her gasp through the comm link. "Oh God. I'm so sorry, Zack. I'm... I'm sorry. Is there anything we can do?"
"Tell everyone I probably won't make it to the celebration," he replied. "I've got to get things set up. I've got papers to sign, family to contact... a funeral to plan. That kind of thing."
"I'll let everyone know. We'll all be there for you."
"Thanks," he answered. "I'll appreciate that. Carrey out." He ended the call.
And then, because he felt the pain coming back, he went back to work.
Meridina was pleased that the second day of touring for Karesl went smoothly. So smoothly that he had opted to return planetside, requiring only a brief trip back to the assigned quarters before escorting him to a transporter room. "Is this what you believe is our future, Meridina?", Karesl asked.
"Yes," she answered.
"You should be the commander of this vessel. Being a mere subordinate is beneath your abilities."
"No, Mastrash, it is not," was her reply. "I am doing an important service in this post and I wish to continue that."
"I wish I could convince you otherwise, Meridina." Karesl shook his head. "Should a wedge ever come between our people and the Allied Systems, you may regret this choice."
"Then I must prevent such a wedge from forming." Meridina tried to control her apprehension. Was he warning her of a plot of some sort? Or was it simple talk? She couldn't tell. He was always hard for her to read.
"Somehow I'm not sure your efforts alone would suffice."
She chose not to continue the conversation.
When they arrived at the transporter room Meridina was quite surprised to see Jarod there, standing near the transporter operator with Lucy and Angel. A number of people were nearby wearing clothes Meridina associated with Robert and the others; clearly they were from Jarod's Earth. "Lieutenant Draynal already has the paperwork," Jarod said to her. "They're going to meet with Beth today about getting emergency residency set up."
"I am pleased you returned unhurt, Commander," Meridina said.
"He did, I'm the one who got shot at," Angel complained, but with a sardonic smile.
Meridina nodded at her before looking to the transporter operator. "Chief Mayga, are they in the queue ahead of my scheduled transport."
"No ma'am," the tan-skinned Gersallian woman replied. "The Mastrash is clear to beam down first."
Meridina nodded and looked to her father, who was looking at Lucy. Lucy clearly noticed the look and gave it back. "Can I help you, sir?", she asked.
"Nothing, Lieutenant. I was simply enjoying the sense of happiness I feel here. It is good to see positive thoughts like that, it makes swevyra stronger." Karesl stepped up onto the pad. "Mi rake sa swevyra iso, Meridina."
"Mi rake sa swevyra iso, Mastrash Karesl," Meridina replied, bowing slightly. "Chief, energize."
After Karesl disappeared Sydney turned to Jarod. "I'm not sure I've ever heard a language like that before. Where are they from?"
"Gersal," Jarod replied. "They're not Humans."
"But they look..."
"Convergent evolution, Sydney." Jarod nodded to Meridina. "Sorry if we got in your way, Commander. I'm going down with them as an advocate."
"Robert is already on the planet, Commander Jarod, I'm sure he'll provide assistance," she answered. "And I suspect Commander Andreys will gladly invite them to join us for the celebration tomorrow."
"She already did," Jarod replied. He stepped up on the transporter platform. Debbie almost dragged her father into place beside him. Angel was the lst to step up, standing beside Miss Parker. "Energize."
Clara had gone part of the day to report to the nursing service she worked for and file the paperwork on Gerald Carrey's death. When she returned she found Zack sitting in his bed, a box of family photos on his lap and one framed photo in his hands. "Dad used to be good at controlling the habit," he remarked quietly. "I mean, up until I was about twelve I thought we had the happiest family you could have. I didn't know how badly my mother's family hated him, or how his family felt about him. I hadn't learned about our little family problem."
"He wanted to be a good Dad," Clara said. "He just couldn't control it."
"He must have talked a lot with you," Zack said quietly.
"I sort of started it," Clara admitted. "I mean,,, yeah, I started it because of you. I was hoping he would tell me why you had left. He was mad at you about it and said some, well..."
"Don't worry about it." Zack shook his head. "I'm just happy he had someone to talk to." After taking in a breath that sounded like a sigh, he continued, "I've always wanted to hate him. Well, I've actually felt a lot of hate for him. But I wish... Clara, it's just so complicated. Dad ruined my baseball career. He drove mother sick. He feuded with everyone. He made my life miserable." With tears at the corners of his eyes, Zack stopped for a moment. "But he was my Dad. And I know he loved me. And he was ready to be a family again, but I came back too damn late..."
"Zack, you don't have to tear yourself up over it."
He shook his head at that. "Clara, there were days... oh God... there were days where I wanted this," he confessed. "Where I was so tired of his drinking and his put-downs and the contempt and... I wanted him to die, Clara. I just wanted it over with! And now I've gotten that wish when I never..."
If he had expected Clara to react angrily, he was disappointed. All she did was shake her head and set her hand on his shoulder. "You really didn't mean that. Sometimes, Zack, we think things because we're angry and upset, we don't really mean them."
Zack heard her words, but he was already jumping from one shame to the next in his head. He thought of Adrana and how the computer being there had felt, in his heart, a desire to see his friend Robert dead to clear the way for him to be with Julia. He wondered if that thought had grown from his thoughts about his father.
"Clara, I've got a dark side," he admitted. "I've seen it. There's a part of me that would..." He swallowed, unwilling to admit what happened in his head. It was too shameful. "I've come to realize lately that I need to be honest with myself about things. About who I am, what I am. And who I want to be with."
"You mean Julia?", Clara asked quietly. A little too quietly. The quiet tone that indicated disappointment mixed with a feeling of, one would guess, inevitability.
Zack noticed that in her face. "Yeah. I know she's not interested but..."
Clara shook her head at him. "Zack, tell her how you feel."
"I can't."
"Why?"
"Because I know she'll say no," he answered.
"Oh." Clara gave a gentle nod. "But wouldn't that be better? You know it's not going to happen but you... you're just torturing yourself if you don't get a definite answer. Otherwise you think that maybe, just maybe, they'll say yes in the future. Maybe they'll come to you or something will happen and..."
Zack put a finger to her lips. "Clara, it's okay. You're right that it's something I should consider doing. But I'm going to do it on my time, okay? My time." He put the photo back in the box. "Well, I need to get finished. Got to get the house ready for everyone."
"Your family is actually coming?"
"A few. My dad's only surviving sibling, some of my cousins. Not as many as we have. Dad didn't have many friends in the family." Zack sighed. "And I have to see if there's a minister or pastor willing to hold the service. I'm not looking forward to seeing Pastor Allen again."
"Oh, you won't, he left about fifteen months ago," Clara answered. "We've got some new guy, a young kid from one of the Bible colleges."
"And he never met Dad?"
"Only a couple of times when we asked, when your Dad's condition started getting worse. They got along."
"Good. He'll be more likely to do it then."
Clara's mouth opened slightly. "Um, Zack..."
"Yes?" He looked toward her.
For a moment it seemed like she would ask something, but at the last moment she held off. "Nothing. Just.... I'll talk to you later, okay?"
"Sure." He nodded and watched her go. This freed him to go back into his thoughts.