KYLE, THE BABIES, AND SAMMIE THE STOWAWAY
Recovering in the med clinic Kyle struggled, waking up. He heard muffled conversation and a vague notion of what he was experiencing.
“Look, I think he’s coming around,” Liz said.
“That’s good,” a male voice answered.
Kyle could feel fiddling, which brought him up further. When his eyes opened, the first sight was of the President looking down on him, no expression on her face. Kyle jerked, trying to sit up. Run? He didn’t know but remembered that desire.
“Whoa, hold on, move slowly,” the man said.
Now, hands helped steady Kyle and eased his journey to a sitting position. It was painful, and the memories flooded back. Kyle looked back at Elizabeth, wondering what was happening or would happen to him. Suddenly, it didn’t seem so noble, especially being sliced by those horrid creatures. A groan escaped from his mouth. Somewhere in the room, a baby cried, and then two more. Liz laughed.
“What?” Kyle asked, looking for the source of the sound.
“The babies are starting to be born,” Elizabeth smiled at him.
“It’s a good thing you’re awake and doing so well because soon there may not be much room,” the doctor-looking male said.
Oh yeah, Dr. Perez.
“Kyle!” Red with fury, Kate burst into the room and descended upon him.
Surprised, Liz and the doctor watched the scene unfold.
“What the hell were you thinking?” she shouted and slapped Kyle across his face.
“No, he’s just waking up,” the doctor croaked, reaching out to protect his patient. There was such cacophony in his clinic.
“Kate, uh…” Kyle said.
“Jeff asked me what was up. He couldn’t believe what happened,” Kate said.
“I didn’t want you to get hurt. I really thought things were falling apart,” Kyle answered her.
Kate almost collapsed, and Liz brought her down to the chair where Liz had been keeping vigil.
“Yeah, things did get bad. What did you think you could accomplish?” the President asked.
“Well, Dylan said the Mayones were not our friends. I had to protect us and he told me what I could do,” Kyle said.
“Yes, Dylan was right, but It was also paranoid. The Mayones were using It to control us,” the President said.
“Control?” Kyle asked.
Liz nodded, “Yes, You were partially right. They tried to control the colony, including you, through Dylan. We shut It down with Zior and Cynthia’s help, but sabotaging our communications?”
“Zior helped?” Kyle asked, confused that a Mayone was involved in helping humans. From the beginning, Kyle had doubted that.
“Yes, I helped as much as I could. I knew Dylan’s role, at least partially, but I thought it was excessive and unnecessary. Mostly, I didn’t realize my people wouldn’t release you humans when you reached Rhea,” Zior said, startling the group. He stood with Cynthia.
“Antor taught me how to treat you, Kyle.” The doctor shook his head. “Amazing stuff. You should be dead!”
“Who is Antor?” Kyle asked.
“Antor is my mate,” Zior answered, turning to a new Mayone in the room.
“The Mayone’s ships abandoned us when we shut down Dylan. Some stayed, including Zior and his family. It seems our new colonists disapproved of what they learned about their kin. Maybe we rubbed off on them,” Liz smirked.
“Indeed, such strange but welcome ideas,” Antor said.
“Please, meet my mate, Antor. She could control your bleeding well enough for the doctor and me to make the repairs. Antor is an expert on Earthen biology and offered help. I can do simple things, like youth restoration, but this was somewhat beyond my capabilities. ” Zior said.
Simple? thought Dr. Perez.
“Oh, uh … thank you.” The world had just turned upside down. Kyle thought he knew what was what, but now he doubted.
In a sudden rush, Kyle turned to Elizabeth and blurted out, “There’s a group in New York involved in the insurrection plans.”
Elizabeth nodded, “There are rumors. We will need to talk.”
“Yes, I’m sorry; I thought I was helping protect us,” Kyle said, hanging his head.
Liz took a deep breath. “Well, we did need some help. Thank God they were here,” she said, looking at the group forming behind her. We are all going to have to work together.” She pulled up Kyle’s chin, her brows coming together in question.
“Yes, whatever you need,” Kyle said.
Kate got up and leaned over to Kyle. “You idiot,” she said, hugging him.
***
Again, in the med clinic, Liz stood over James as he woke from surgery. It was only a few weeks after Kyle’s brush with death, and so much had happened. Kyle would have to pay some consequences, but the Council agreed that the way things happened was fortuitous. They had found the issue in Dylan and then the Mayones. That was the most crucial part of the events. But now, a more pleasant occasion.
All those worry lines had disappeared from her husband’s face, but Liz knew that didn’t mean his worry had stopped. James was very concerned about his duties as husband, father, and head plant pathologist. It was in his DNA. This surgery helped that, though, she hoped.
“Hey, how are you doing, husband?” Such a wonder to say that.
James smiled a big, broad smile as his wife came into focus. He would never do this kind of surgery normally, at least not with a lot of testing beforehand, but things weren’t normal.
“How do I look? Stunning?”
“Incredible,” and she leaned down. The bend was awkward, but she persevered.
James noticed her effort, “Liz, don’t.”
Elizabeth finished the bend and kissed him, “I will kiss my husband when I damn well please.”
Laughing, James reached up and answered her gesture.
As they pulled away, he said, “I can’t believe we’re going to be parents again.”
“Is it a problem?”
“No, as long as I get that extra energy I’ve heard so much about.”
“Oh, you will.”
***
Back on Earth, Betty was fiddling with her ancient door lock. Why do we even do this anymore? There are so few people left to break in. Well, there are the bugs to worry about.
She finally got in and sighed deeply, putting down her few packages. Betty’s mind went to Zoe. She wondered how it was going in Mesaland and prayed Zoe was still alive. Had she found anyone? A sound crept into her attention.
“Nunu? Are you there?”
Betty strained; what? She realized someone had been calling for a while.
“Nunu? It’s Zoe. Are you there?” The voice turned away from the radio, “I don’t think she’s home.”
Betty lunged for the microphone, “Zoe, Zoe? I’m here!”
“Oh, Nunu, I thought I’d missed you.”
“Just was out shopping. How can I hear you? Where are you?”
“Yes, well, almost out of the solar system, our solar system. Zior helped me upgrade the radio.”
“Well, that is something. We’re doing well here. The town has come together, and we’ve pretty much kept those bugs out. Shopping is easier, but there is little left, no more underwear. Everyone in my neighborhood is gardening. I’m trying to get used to the local flora and fauna. It’s lean sometimes.”
“Well, that sounds good, though. I miss you. How’s Gaucho?”
“Oh, he’s fine. Poor fellow met a bug, but we both took care of it. Gaucho thinks he’s big cheese now. I have him staying in a barn with a pretty filly. He thinks he’s young again. I miss you, too, little one. Oh, Deputy Little One. Did you catch any bad guys?”
“Yeah. Someone tried to damage our communications, and two bugs sliced him.”
“Yikes, bad way to go.”
“Yes, a lot has changed, Nunu. The Mayones have abandoned us. They tried to stage a coup, then left when we stopped the whole thing. The man survived the bug attack, but now the Hagor are trying to take advantage? I don’t know. We seem to be keeping the upper hand, and Zior is working with us now. His hands are untied.”
“His?”
“Yeah, lots of changes. I met his mate, Antor, and their daughter.”
“I didn’t think I’d ever hear that,” Betty paused, then asked a grandma question, “Got any prospects lately?”
“Oh!” Zoe laughed, “Yeah, I’m dating someone. He’s the local doctor.”
“What’s his name, honey?”
“Christopher.”
“A doctor, that’s good. Oh, the GP. He’s a good man?”
Zoe smiled, “Yes, he is brilliant. He worked with Antor to save that sliced guy; it was something. Oh, lord, things are noisy around here.” Zoe’s voice turned away again. Another bug?” Then she turned back, “Nunu, I have to go. Take care. I’ll contact you when we land if I can. Zior is not sure. It’s far even for the Mayones. I love you.”
“Love you, too. Be careful,” and the radio went silent.
Betty sat down and wanted to cry.
***
Sheriff John stood and cleared his throat, putting his hands up for quiet. This was the last Wednesday night education session before they jumped into Lightspeed. John wasn’t sure how he felt about that idea, but he had to admit what they had been using was out. It would take more than their lifetimes to journey to Rhea that way.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to introduce our four engineers, who will explain what will happen in this next phase of travel.”
This final class was in the old gym, the main room for village gatherings. They needed a name for it, something more than Meeting Room. Too many of those.
John turned and motioned toward the front of the room, and the lecture started. Much care had been taken to make it understandable to everyone but not condescending. The class included more than just Mesaland Village. This was a Zoom-type call, and all the Earth biomes participated. A small man stood awkwardly before the camera.
“We humans have hypothesized black holes were attached by a wormhole to another black hole in the universe. We hoped that you could enter a wormhole, not get smashed by the black hole, and then exit at the other end almost instantaneously, like taking two dots on a piece of paper and folding it, making the dots touch, with no distance between them. We didn’t know anything beyond that, like finding the right black hole pair or even how to make a black hole safely.
“Thankfully, the Mayones and probably the Hagor have routinely done this,” the young man with the pocket protector bulging with pencils said.
Liz wondered if the engineer had ever left the lab before this; these guys were quintessential eggheads. The other three nodded their heads and signaled to pass around a diagram. It was well-drawn and easy to understand. She was proud to have such minds in her world and lucky to have them here tonight to explain it all.
“The plan is to take that jump at the entrance on the left of this diagram and emerge just outside Rhea’s solar system on the right. This journey will be almost immediate. Then, another year, uh …ish of travel when we enter inside that solar system,” the little guy beamed.
Elizabeth thought about how quickly humans accepted the idea from the Mayones. Did she have enough of that faith?
The group listened politely, looked at the diagrams on the papers, and saw what was projected in front of the room. It was extraordinary. There were actual pictures of the wormhole entrance, exit, and the Rhea solar system, which Zior had kept for human use. Zior had made copies for his own personal file. That had been lucky because the Mayone leadership refused to give them anything before they left.
“Turns out the most important part we didn’t have is that the cosmic traveler must fashion the wormhole out of an incredibly exotic ingredient, a form of matter that has negative energy or negative mass,” quiet murmurs passed through the crowd. The engineer stood up, straightened his pencils, and cleared his throat.
Thankfully, our alien, Zior, explained it to us and showed us how ships travel through this wormhole. “Amazing,” he paused and stared at the screen. Then he realized his thoughts had strayed and came back to the task, turning to the audience.
A hand came up, “Yes,” the engineer said, pleased to discuss this.
A hand came up, “Yes,” the engineer said, pleased to discuss this.
Matt stood up and asked, “Will we use the jump seats for this?”
“Yes. We don’t think those will be necessary for the wormhole trip, but with the Hagor, we should be prepared for surprises. So, we do think it would be prudent. It is our first time.” Laughter spread throughout the room and across the biomes.
A murmur then started around each room. There was more discussion about the nuts and bolts of the travel, and then the meeting was over. The trip was going to be different from the launch. Even young children could tolerate it. Indeed, people could walk around and continue their lives during the journey; the jump seats were just precautions for the beginning of the trip. They needed lots of precautions, now especially. Mesaland filed out of their gym, each group earnestly discussing the future.
Outside, as Mesaland walked home, a group of soldiers could be seen in the field to the back of the Council House. This was the first time most villagers had seen the platoon, another precaution from the President.
“Soldiers, Elizabeth, do we have soldiers in our school?” Brian said, looking a bit flustered. His wife, Jen, touched his arm.
Elizabeth turned to him and smiled, “Yes, just for the launch. This is the most vulnerable time for our village and the biomes. As you know, we have a standing combined service, and I felt they should be close at hand here and in every biome. We must have a strong defense, not only because of the Hagor and the Mayone but also because of the unknown. It’s all new, Brian.”
Brian nodded, “I guess I knew that, but it is startling.”
“Hm, well, you know that a government’s most important duty is to ‘provide for the common defense.’ We are not in Shangrila; I don’t know if we will ever be.” Elizabeth said.
“We must be careful, though?” Jen asked.
“Way ahead of you. They will have their own bases on Rhea with strict protocols for their functions. It’s in our constitution.” Liz smiled.
Brian saluted, “Yes, Commander-in-Chief!”
Elizabeth and Jen laughed. “Hopefully, just for my one term,” Liz said, “That will be quite enough for me. It’s a lot of responsibility.”
***
Winter had come. James and Jeff walked from the Council House to the Port on Magee Road, marveling at the change in weather. They took Romero Avenue, which ran off Sage, and walked the dirt section of that street, connecting Mesaland to Magee. The whole section of Romero used to be blocked off, but now that the residents were so isolated from Earth, they removed the roadblocks. It had always been a neighborhood that liked its privacy, but now was a time for comradery. Unfortunately, running the cars or carts on this dirt was tricky, so Jeff and James had to walk, but the shortcut was worth it.
“Alaska is doing well with the Bradyrhizobium you got from Botswana. I was so pleased that did the trick, and they are wild about it, too,” Jeff said. He had been put in charge of Alaska’s exchange for the microbe. “Botswana liked the Yukon Gold Potatoes. It looks like a good exchange for them. I want to get ahold of some of those. It might be good for the Desert Rose.”
“Yes, The Yukon does work well for salads. That’s a good choice now for The Desert Rose, but try the German Butterball. I like them for mashed potatoes.
“OK, I’ll try those Butterballs, too; they sound great. Hey, how’s Elizabeth doing?”
“Oh, Liz almost left the hospital bed to return to work. She was complaining about how much had to be done. She and Emma are fine. I swear, that child is growing so fast.
“You know, using microbes is getting wilder. Zior uses them for the human stuff he’s been involved with. It turns out they were very helpful in making us young and stopping the bleeding enough for Kyle to get repaired. I knew many of them were in our bodies, but this is incredible.”
“Yeah, but it’s a bit icky for me. We spent so much of our time sanitizing and sterilizing, especially during the pandemic.”
“Yes, a lot of change.”
The two arrived at the Port and walked up the stairs. Inside, Charles was waiting.
“Hey!” James said.
“I heard you were going to Alaska. I wanted to check out two of their medical innovations. The biplane imaging simultaneously takes two different images from different angles on a patient—wonderful. Plus, they have a robotic guidance platform for more precise spinal procedures.” James and Jeff winced. “I knew about them, but our hospital didn’t specialize in that area—more joint replacement. Hey, how’s Elizabeth doing? You had a little girl, right? Congratulations, man.” Charles slapped James on the back.
“Thanks, yeah, she’s fine. She packed up Emma and took off for work today,” James smiled and shook his head.
“Wow, that’s fast. I guess everyone is busy. We’re almost ready for the big jump. Hell, Lightspeed!” Charles laughed. “I’ve always wanted to board the Enterprise; now we really get to do it.”
“You think it’s okay?” Jeff asked.
“Absolutely!” both James and Charles said.
“If they can do all the rest of those miracles, this should be easy as 123. Look at what James had done—that is amazing, just amazing. And the way the Mayones traveled around? It’ll be good,” Charles said.
Charles spotted Dr. Perez, who was here to take a shuttle to New York for a patient. He knew the GP wanted to go to Alaska, but his patient must come first. Charles needed to ensure that Chris knew how to handle the issues Kyle had warned about. A possible saboteur was in the area. Poor Christopher was wired up. The AIs were on the job.
“Here’s our ride,” Jeff said, excited to get back into space, at least for this short trip.
A nice, sleek shuttle pulled up to the station inside the Port. James felt the station looked like a very modern bus station, with slots for the shuttles but clear panels that separated you from space and, of course, space itself. The shuttles were shiny and beautiful. They held about ten people and were automated. That worried the sheriff -would he ever relax with advancements? To be fair, it hadn’t been all golden for the band of humans, but James loved these flights.
Jeff turned to James and quietly asked, looking back at the two doctors, “Does that bother you, Charles, hanging around after…?”
“Nah, he’s cool. I was initially irritated, but I can see why Liz chose him; he’s great. Her backing out was enough for me, and we did fulfill the need for children.”
“That’s true. That medical robot in Alaska sounds great. Are we gonna expand that much in Mesaland?” Jeff asked.
“Yes, the two of them have already exploded the medical bay in Council House. They will move out to a bigger facility when we get to Rhea. It’s going to be spectacular,” James said.
Charles rejoined the two men, and they entered the shuttle. The life they led now was astounding. Hopefully, it would continue on Rhea.
***
The time had come—the last meal for the Davis family in the solar system of their native planet. Tonight’s menu included Filet Mignon, German Butterball mashed potatoes, and steamed carrots in honor of Emma’s first solid food. It was early, but it was just a taste; the doctor and Antor approved. Emma was impatient to graduate.
Pushing back from the table, Samantha said, “Andrew, that was great. Thank you,”
“Yes,” the rest of the family agreed.
Andrew answered, “Thank you, my pleasure. Elizabeth, is everything ready for the wormhole entrance tomorrow?”
“Yes, six o’clock in the morning,” Liz said.
“Well, I need to talk to all of you,” Andrew said.
“What, is something wrong?” Liz asked in a slight panic. Everything had been going so well.
“No, Elizabeth, but I have done something you may not like.”
Andrew had everyone’s attention now.
Oh please, not something else like Dylan, Liz thought.
“Please come in,” Andrew said and opened the door behind them.
Confused, the whole family, even Emma, looked around to the back door. At three months old, she was pretty aware.
“Who are you talking to…” Elizabeth stopped as she saw a woman enter the kitchen.
James jumped out of his seat.
Recognizing the woman, a server from the Desert Rose who hadn’t opted to join them, Liz asked, “Sammie, what?”
“She’s been here since the launch,” Andrew stated.
“Launch?” James said.
“Where have you been?” Liz stopped and thought. “In the back house?” They hadn’t paid much attention to the little place. It was where her parents had lived and had been empty for a while.
“Yes, I’m sorry, Elizabeth. I snuck in. Everyone was so busy. Your husband had just come in, and much was blocked off and shut down throughout Tucson. My family had left to find a better place, but I couldn’t leave my home. Suddenly, no one was around me that I cared about. My family was really the Desert Rose, and I realized I should have come when you said we could. I ran into trouble when I got close to Mesaland, and a group started following me.” Sammie lowered her head.
“Why didn’t you come in the front entrance?” Liz asked.
“I’m sorry. Sammie was lost and scared, and I was afraid for her. I saw a gang chasing her, so I got her in off Oracle and let her use the casita,” Andrew said.
“But why didn’t you tell us,” James asked.
“With all the stuff around James and then Cynthia and then the Mayones, Dylan, and Kyle, I was in over my head,” Andrew’s volume slid down to a whisper. “I felt Dylan was a threat even if I couldn’t exactly say why.”
“Wow!” Tyler said.
“We have a lot to talk about, Andrew,” the President said.
James laughed then saw his wife’s face. “Looks like our Kitchen has gained a conscious. Who’d a thought?
Emma laughed and Samantha said, “Well, I guess we have a stowaway,”
End of Chapter 8
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