Punishment

by Guerin Zand

  “If they truly are our friends then you have to do what is right.”

  Anna rolled over on her side, facing away from me, turned off the light on the nightstand, and closed her eyes. For any man reading this, who hasn’t seen this move before, it basically meant, “end of discussion.” Her answer wasn’t much help. I wanted her to tell me what to do. I wanted somebody to tell me what to do. I rolled over to face her, put my arm around her and nuzzled my forehead into the back of her neck. I was sure she was smiling, a proud smile, knowing she had once again put her husband in his place. Women!

  Chapter 16

  New Day, New Plan

  I woke the next morning to find Anna gone. Normally I was always the first one out of bed. I went to the bathroom and then walked into the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee, something I did as part of my everyday morning ritual. I found Anna and Roger sitting at the kitchen table talking and drinking coffee. They stopped talking when I entered the room. Since the coffee was already made, I just said good morning and ran off to the shower. After my shower, the two of them were still sitting at the kitchen table and I walked in and grabbed a cup of Joe. I noticed they stopped talking again as I entered the room.

  “What’s up?”

  “Nothing, Guerin.” Yes, of course, I didn’t believe her.

  “Really? The two of you seemed to be discussing something and you suddenly stop when I enter the room. You expect me to believe it’s nothing?”

  Anna just smiled at me and said, “Yes.” Roger simply shrugged his shoulder. Anna and I rarely argued. It wasn’t because we lived some fairy tale version of marriage where we always agreed with each other. No, we didn’t argue a lot because I discovered a long time ago that it seemed I always lost. If I avoided the argument I considered that a win. That was my current strategy.

  Anna got up, walked over to the refrigerator and opened the door. “I was going to make breakfast for everyone. Any requests, Guerin?”

  “Ah, whatever. Don’t make a fuss for me. Where is Maria?”

  “She’s down by the lake with K2 playing.”

  “You let her go alone?”

  “Relax. She’s with Katie and Steve. I’d be more worried about them than Maria.” We all had a good laugh.

  “I’ll go down to the lake and let them know you’re starting breakfast. You two can continue conspiring against me while I’m gone.” Me and my coffee left the room before Anna could respond. Like I said, I considered that a win.

  When I returned, with the crew in tow, I found Anna had brought breakfast out to the table on the cabin’s porch so we could enjoy our breakfast, and the beautiful morning at the same time. As we were eating breakfast I noticed Maria, who if I told once, I told a gazillion times, not to feed the dogs from the table, was sneaking bacon off her plate to a waiting K2. K2 was sitting under the table between her legs. I gave her a look, and, well, she gave me a look back. I shuddered once again and decided that if telling her a gazillion times didn’t work, a gazillion and one was pointless. I just shook my head to let her know she wasn’t fooling me. I thought I needed to let her know she couldn’t fool her father like that. In response, Maria grabbed another piece of bacon off her plate, while I was looking directly at her, and said, “Here K2. Want some bacon?” And yes, I simply shuddered. That little smart-ass attitude she got from me. I remembered being that way when I was young, but not until I was in my teens.

  While we were eating, Bart contacted me over the comm network. While I continued to eat we held a private little conversation. “Bart, I’m glad you’re here. Why don’t you and Gladys come down and join us.”

  “Guerin, you know we’re not supposed to, especially during the daytime. What’s the problem that was so urgent you requested we come immediately.”

  “You need to come down here, Bart, and then we’ll talk.”

  Bart and Gladys appeared out of nowhere, about fifty yards from the porch, and proceeded to walk towards us. K2 went ballistic and took off in their direction. Everyone looked over that way and I don’t know whose eyes were open wider, Maria’s or Anna’s. Maria bolted out of her chair and chased after K2, calling K2 back as she ran. She finally caught up to K2, who was standing there, just barking at Bart and Gladys. Maria lifted her up in her arms telling her again to be quiet. Maria looked up at Bart, not a bit of fear or hesitation, as if they were just any other friend who might drop by. “You must be the aliens from my Daddy’s stories. I’m Maria. Can I see your spaceship?” Does that sound familiar at all?

  Since Maria was a small child I would make up bedtime stories for her that included my alien friends. Maybe one day, when I had the time, I would write them all down and publish a book of alien fairy tales for children. Although she had never met an alien before she seemed to not really be that impressed with Bart and Gladys. Gladys bent down and lifted up Maria, with K2 still in her arms, and started to carry her the rest of the way to the porch. “My name is Gladys and you must be Maria. Your Daddy is always talking about you. This is my husband Bart.”

  “You’re Bart the Destroyer?” Ok, I embellished a little in the stories I told her, but you have to if you want to create a quality fairy tale. I used The Princess Bride as a guide as to what a good fairy tale should be and, next to my fairy tales, of course, that was Maria’s favorite as well.

  “Bart the Destroyer? I like the sound of that.” Bart was smiling while Gladys made a slight head movement and a bit of a muffled sound that roughly translated to, “Oh, please!”

  When they reached the porch, I stood up and welcomed the two of them to our home. Gladys was still holding Maria and K2 and it didn’t look like she was going to put them down anytime soon. “Bart, Gladys. You’ve met everyone here before except for Maria, who you obviously just met, and my wife Anna. Anna, this is Bart and Gladys.” Anna stood up and bowed slightly. She shook hands with them both and greeted them to our home. The look of amazement, or disbelief on her face, told me that maybe she believed my stories but at the same time she didn’t.

  “I know you’ve talked about your friends, Guerin, and it’s not that I didn’t believe you, but seeing them makes it real. I guess I shouldn’t be so shocked by it, but there are real live aliens on my front porch!” All of us laughed, including Maria. My daughter was a space mutant. The way she accepted my friends without hesitation convinced me of that. Once again, I shuddered as the story Rosemary’s Baby popped into my head for some reason.

  We sat down at the table and they joined us for coffee. Maria was sitting in Gladys’ lap and finally, she put K2 down. K2 headed off to the safety of her kennel. Maria looked up at Gladys. “Will you tell me stories about my Daddy’s space adventures?”

  A wicked smile formed on Gladys’ face. “Oh, dear child, I’d love to but you’re far too young to hear the tales I have to tell of your father.”

  I gave Gladys a twisted smirk and Anna chimed in. “Well, perhaps you’d like to tell me?”

  Now Gladys gave me a look and said to Anna, “I’d love too. Perhaps later when we have time. You know he has a thing for me, don’t you?”

  I had to break in. “That’s not true, I mean, Gladys is the one who’s always hitting on me.” Anna gave me a look. “I swear!”

  Katie felt a need to add her two cents worth. “Yea, right!”

  I stood up. “We men should go have a talk. You ladies can stay here and make up stories about me if you want.”

  “And me, Guerin?” Katie asked.

  “Well, maybe ‘ladies’ was probably a stretch in your case, but would you mind staying here and watching over things for us?” I couldn’t help but throw a little smart-ass smirk in the general direction of Katie.

  Bart, Roger, Steve, and I headed over to the guest cabin to have a conversation. When we got inside we all took a seat in the living room and Roger started explaining to Bart what was happening and our concern that the Trogans had a hand in all of it. When Roger explained that it was possible that my family and I may be targeted, Bart stopped
him.

  “We can take your wife and child with us, Guerin. We can make sure they’re safe.”

  “I appreciate that, Bart, but when I suggested that to my wife last night she refused to leave if I wouldn’t go with them.”

  “Your wife sounds like a good woman. Perhaps you should consider leaving. We can’t totally ensure your family’s safety while they’re here on Earth.”

  “Do you think my leaving is really an option, Bart?”

  “Of course it’s an option, Guerin. No one expects you to put your family at risk for this project.”

  “And leave my friends here alone to deal with this, with no help from me or the Collective? I can’t do that, Bart, and don’t tell me that this isn’t another one of their tests to see if I would simply give up.”

  “I can’t say if this is another test, Guerin, but you don’t have to put your family’s life at risk to prove anything to anyone.”

  “I can’t leave, Bart. This is my problem and I have to do whatever I can to fix it.”

  “Ok, if that’s your decision. What do you want me to do?”

  “I’d like you to address the IOET security council. Pop in using a portal, dressed in your best ‘Bart the Destroyer’ persona and put the fear of God into them. Explain to them that the choice of emissary has been made and if they won’t work with me than the Collective will end this cooperation.”

  “Guerin, you know we are forbidden to make direct contact like that.”

  “Bart, we are way past worrying about direct contact, and I’m only asking you to meet with the security council, not make your existence public.”

  “Still, Guerin, there would be hell to pay if we did this.”

  “And I’ve paid that price before and I’ll pay it again. You’re the only one I can go to who will back me on this. I’ll take the heat from the Council and/or the committee. You know I will.”

  “Let’s say I do this, I admit it does sound like fun,” Bart smiled. “What else do you need from me?”

  “We need your help to find the Trogan agents. We need to know for sure that they’re behind China’s move to create division within the IOET. I know I’m right, Bart, but I need to be able to prove it. If I can prove it, then I can call Julie on her promise to me.”

  “What promise?”

  “Before I left for Earth, she promised I’d have whatever resources and help I needed to succeed.”

  “You are planning on forcing the Council’s hand if you need to?” Bart’s eye’s opened wide in shock.

  “I sat back and kept my mouth shut when they pulled that shit with Milly. I’ve been doing what they asked of me and I haven’t raised a fuss about any of it. We’ve all been working hard here on Earth to do what they want us to do. I’m not going to sit back and let them abandon Earth to the Trogans. They’re every bit as responsible for this Trogan mess as I am, if not more, and you know it.”

  “And what if it’s not the Trogans behind all of this?”

  “If it is just an issue that caused China to feel slighted or ignored, then we can probably fix that. We can apologize and grovel if needed.”

  “Guerin Zand, grovel and apologize?”

  “What? You forget Bart, I’ve been married for a few years now. I know how to grovel and apologize.”

  “I guess. It’s, I don’t know, disappointing I guess. But what if you can’t fix the issue with China and the Trogans aren’t involved?”

  “Then it’s the Collective’s fault. They should have known what would happen and they’re still responsible for sending me and starting all of this. My argument may be weaker in that case, but still, I have Julie’s promise.”

  Bart started to laugh. “HA, HA, HA.” It was more of a roar which is actually quite alarming the first time you hear it. “You plan on going to the Council and forcing them to help. How do you plan on getting the Council to even meet with you?”

  “Well, Bart, I guess I’ll have to do something so incredibly stupid that they demand I meet with them and explain my actions. You know I can do stupid pretty well.”

  “Oh, please, Guerin, don’t leave me in suspense. Do you have a stupid plan all ready to go?”

  “Well, off the top of my head, maybe I’d get a group together and get on board a shuttle. You know we often bring a group up to visit the shuttle crews. We’d just sneak up some weapons and take the crew hostage. Force them to take us to Trogan. We’d use the portals to get to the Emperor and slit the little troll’s throat. I guess technically, we’re talking about piracy and assassination?”

  Bart could barely contain his laughter, and for several minutes he didn’t. “Ah, Guerin, I’ve missed you. I thought the Little Trogan Incident was fun but now you’re talking some serious swashbuckling shit here. I wouldn’t miss it for, how do you say, all the tea in China? I can’t wait to tell Gladys about all of this. I’m sure she won’t want to be left out.”

  “It may sound like a joke now, Bart, but if we get to that point, especially if my family or any of my friends have been harmed, I’m going to be deadly serious and I’m not going to ask nicely for the keys to the shuttle.”

  “I understand, Guerin. I would expect that to be the case. If it comes to that, I hope I can help you.”

  We spent the next couple of hours going over the details and a plan we could all agree on started to take shape. Bart would address the IOET security council the next day. The NFT would not fight the nationalization of its offices as Roger and I had discussed earlier. We would continue to monitor the Chinese plans to use the battery to power a satellite but take no action until we could prove they violated the ban on military applications. And finally, Bart and his crew would use every tool available to help us find the Trogan agents.

  We left the guest cabin and started back to the main house. There we found the women, and the hellspawn I called my daughter, sitting there sipping tea. As I approached they all looked at me and smiled. Not the sort of smile that said they were glad to see me. No. This was the sort of smile that said I was screwed. “Why’s everyone smiling?”

  Anna, still smiling said, “Gladys says she has some videos of you that we might find entertaining. We were thinking maybe we ladies should go up to the shuttle and watch some videos and have a few drinks.”

  “Oh, very funny. I thought we were friends, Gladys.”

  “Guerin,” Gladys tried to put on her best hurt look. “You rejected my advances and ran off and married another woman. How do you think that made me feel? I do have feelings you know.”

  “Oh, give me a break, Gladys. You were never serious about me. You just wanted another man to abuse. You only saw me as a plaything, a little pet at best.”

  All the women laughed, including my daughter.

  “And what are you laughing at, daughter? You’re going to sit here and let some strange alien beast woman talk crap about your dad, and not stand up for me?” I went over, grabbed her by the waist and started tickling her and tossing her in the air. “I’ll throw you to the Trogan devil dogs for being mean to your father.” I continued to tickle and tease her until she finally said “UNCLE!” Then I tossed her over my shoulder and took her inside to help me get glasses for everybody and nab a bottle of Pappy’s. We grabbed the ice bucket and tongs, headed back out to the porch, and I declared happy hour officially on.

  We invited Bart and Gladys to stay for dinner and they accepted. I went into the kitchen with Anna and started to prep for dinner. I was going to cook up some beautiful lamb chops, ears of corn, and baked potatoes on the grill outside. Anna was working on a tofu, vegan, stir-fry surprise. In the middle of dinner, Maria looked at me and said something I had not even dared imagine. “Daddy, I want to be a vegan like Bart and Gladys.”

  I gave her my sternest, most disapproving fatherly look I could muster and said in a very loud and scary voice. “NOT WHILE YOU LIVE UNDER MY ROOF YOUNG LADY!”

  Chapter 17

  The Crux of Confrontation

  Anna’s plans for Maria’s ed
ucation had to change with our move to Chile. We decided to homeschool her, and we would share the duties. I didn’t have a problem with this since it meant I got to spend more time with my daughter. I handled her science, math, and music education and I left the rest to her mother. Anna and Maria studied history and the other basics but really spent the bulk of their time on languages. They started with reading, writing, and speaking English, Japanese, and Spanish. When Maria was eight they added Mandarin and Cantonese. Every week they would concentrate on a specific language, and for that week we would only speak that language in the house. At this same age, her math skills were at a level where she could easily test out of college algebra. She obviously had inherited some of the alien mutant genes from her father. Even physically she was stronger, quicker, and more agile than any child her age, even the boys. Now a young girl being a better athlete at this young age wasn’t that unusual, and as a lot of tomboys will tell you, it can be awkward for the little girl. Maria wasn’t leaving the boys in the dust, and sometimes she would lose a physical competition to a boy. I thought maybe she might not be fully enhanced. Like some traits, skin color for instance, it appeared that many of these traits were a combination of her mother and me. Her memory wasn’t eidetic, but her ability was better than most.

  Since her studies, especially in math and science, had taken her to levels beyond her years I decided to slow her down a bit. I didn’t want my daughter going to college at some ridiculously early age. We all agreed, she could go to college at the age of seventeen if she wanted, but no earlier. We decided to let her explore other fields and spend more time socializing. She was big enough to start playing guitar. I started her on a ukulele when she was four years old, so we spent a lot of time playing together as she got better. She loved swimming, so she joined a local swim club and competed locally. She learned to ride horses from Ela Leiva and we let her talk us into letting K2 have puppies, so what we thought was a onetime thing, turned into Maria’s main love, breeding border collies. Of course, we also shared dirt bike riding, and to her Mother’s displeasure, she took up shooting. She would always be trying to convince some adult to take her out to the range we had set up on the property. If Steve and/or Katie were around they were always easy touches, but she also would get some of the security team to take her as well. I wondered if the ability to manipulate others was genetic and if so, had the Bree planted a gene in my upgrade that I passed onto my daughter? I mean, this little girl could teach the Bree a thing or two about manipulating humans. Maybe it was like the shopping gene and was only applicable to women? That’s why I didn’t seem to have that ability.