by M. D. Cooper
The place had been Martin’s home ever since his arrival at New Canaan. It felt odd to think that this night would be the last he would spend there for the foreseeable future.
The autocab that had brought them home closed its doors and sped away, leaving Martin, Isa, and Erin standing on the beach. The two women seemed to be feeling the same as Martin. Everyone was quiet and still. Then Isa shivered, though the temperature was balmy. Martin wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “The Transcend isn’t waiting for us inside. It’ll only be Malcolm and Jude. Malcolm can only kill us with his cooking skills, and Jude’s too small to do any real damage.”
“Yeah, I do know that the enemy isn’t waiting on our doorstep,” Isa replied sardonically. “But sometimes I wish we didn’t have to do those drills. They’re so realistic.”
“They’re a sad necessity,” said Erin. “But it’s all over now, right? Let’s go in and eat. I hope Jude didn’t keep Malcolm too busy for him to start dinner.”
They trudged through the loose sand up to the door, which was unlocked as always. The beach was off limits to visitors, ostensibly due to the sensitivity of Martin’s ocean seeding site, but mainly due to the nearby presence of the SATC.
Inside the house, Malcolm was already preparing the evening meal.
“Hey, you’re back,” he said as they appeared. “How’d it go?”
“Horrible and scary,” Isa replied. “Let’s not talk about the training, huh? How’s Jude been?” She went into the kitchen to collect what she needed to set the table.
“He’s been great,” Malcolm replied. “He went into his crib about an hour ago and he’s been sleeping like a baby ever since.”
“Not surprising,” Erin said, “considering he is one. How’s the food coming? I’m starving.”
“Errr, our son isn’t a baby any longer,” Martin said. “As one of his mothers, you should probably get your terms right. He really hasn’t even been a toddler for a while now.”
“Baby, toddler, what’s the difference?” she asked. “He’s a beautiful bundle of smiles and hugs who I miss too much every time I have to go away.”
“Yeah, that’s been hard on everyone,” Martin said. “I’m glad your long absences for work have finally come to an end. No more months-long projects at the heliopause. The governor promised us that, and I’m going to hold her to it.”
Erin snorted. “Good luck. You know with Tanis the colony comes before any single person’s needs or wishes, including her own. But I think we’ll be OK, for a few years at least.”
“Take your seats, ladies and gentleman,” said Malcolm. “Dinner is served.”
“Oh, sorry, I forgot,” said Erin. “We brought some soup dumplings from Landfall. Could you put them in the steamer, Malcolm?”
“Soup dumplings? Yum,” he replied. “No problem. Pass them over. They’ll only take a few minutes.” He took the bag that Erin handed him and returned to the kitchenette.
“And I’ll pour us some wine,” said Martin.
Erin said, “I’d rather have—”
“Cream soda?” Martin interrupted. “Are you sure, Erin? I thought since it’s our last night here….”
“No wine for me. I never really liked it, and nowadays, it just reminds me of visiting every single one of Samuel Jefferson’s empty vineyards on Tyre, complete with their complimentary antimatter bombs. But I’ll have a beer.”
“Beer it is,” Martin said. As he fixed the drinks to accompany their last dinner at the beach house, he skirted around Malcolm in the small space. The young man left, carrying out a dish.
said Martin.
Erin had already sat down. She’d helped herself to a plate and cutlery and was in the process of lifting a large heap of noodles out of a serving dish with tongs.
Malcolm and Martin joined forces in staring at her wordlessly.
She had lifted a forkful of noodles halfway to her open mouth before she noticed them.
“Is there a problem?”
“Can’t you wait five minutes?” asked Martin. “No one else has even sat down yet.”
“But I’m ravenous,” Erin replied. “I was running and swimming all over the place today during that sim training. And I died, don’t forget. That’s hungry work.”
Martin tilted his head. “We all died, remember?”
“I know. It’s just…. Oh, all right.” Erin put down her fork. “I guess I’m still operating on shipside manners.”
Isa took a seat. “The soup dumplings were a fantastic idea, Erin. We haven’t had these in ages.”
“Yeah, good idea, Erin,” said Martin as he also sat down. He glanced at Isa. “She had them delivered to the training center while we were waiting for you to finish your sim.”
“You mean while I was defending our child from evil attackers who threatened to hurt him in order to make me reveal secret information?” Isa asked. “Information that I don’t even know? Is that the sim you mean?” She lifted the lid off a dish.
“Erm, yes,” said Erin. “That one.” She pulled an ‘uh-oh’ face at Martin.
Catching the look, Isa sighed and said, “It’s OK. I’m over it now. But, please, let’s forget about today, and just eat. Pass me a dumpling, Erin.”
“Sure,” she said. “Though I better admit to you that these were Walter’s idea, or he’s going to sulk.”
“Hold up a minute,” said Martin. “Before we start eating, let’s have a toast.” He lifted his glass of wine into the air.
Malcolm and Isa followed suit. Erin lifted up her beer.
“To new beginnings,” Martin said.
“New beginnings,” the others echoed as they clinked glasses.
Erin held out the dish of steaming dumplings for Isa before taking a couple for her own plate.
Isa scooped her dumpling up in a spoon and used chopsticks to carefully tear a hole in the dough to allow the steam to escape. While waiting for her food to cool, she said, “But let’s not forget—first, Athens! Cocktails, late nights, and decadent pleasure.”
Erin swallowed before replying, “Yes, Athens! I can’t believe it’s taken us four years to return there and finish our vacation.”
“You can’t?” Martin asked. “It isn’t so remarkable. Athens is hardly the place to take a child. In fact, I’d prefer to wait another year or two before vacationing there. It isn’t like the planet’s going anywhere. It can wait.”
“Oh, loosen up,” Erin said. “Remember the tsunami surfing? Usef’s waiting on a return match.”
“And after three years of being a mom, I need to let my hair down,” said Isa.
“Yeah, you do deserve a break, Isa,” Martin said. “It’s only that I think Jude is still a little too young to leave behind with someone else. That was why I suggested you two should go without me. I don’t mind staying here with Jude while you enjoy yourselves.”
“No way,” Erin protested. “It won’t be the same without you. Anyway, everything’s arranged. First thing tomorrow, we send all our stuff to the new place on Troy. Then we drop off Jud
e at Tanis and Joe’s, and finally we’ll head to the spaceport to catch the shuttle to the Odyssey. When we’ve had our amazing vacation, we’ll pick up our sweet little boy and fly straight to Troy. You can start helping your friend with her underwater safari park, Isa can open her art gallery, and I finally get to build a space station. Yes!” Erin made a fist and pulled down, tucking her elbow in by her side. “It’s all decided. Right, Isa?”
Isa was sipping wine. She put down her glass. “Right.”
They both looked at Martin. Malcolm stifled a smile and looked at his plate.
Martin replied doubtfully, “OK.”
“There’s absolutely no need to worry about Jude,” said Isa. “He’s going to have a whale of a time. Cary and Saanvi adore him, and Tanis and Joe are very happy to have him around. And he’s so used to being at their lakehouse, he probably won’t even notice we’re gone.”
“I know, but….” said Martin.
“But what?” asked Erin.
Martin didn’t have an answer.
CHAPTER FOUR
STELLAR DATE: 04.08.8941 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Tanis’s Lakehouse, Knossos Island
REGION: Carthage, New Canaan System
Erin held Jude’s hand as they climbed the wooden steps that led up to the front door of Tanis and Joe’s lakehouse. Her son’s little legs could only take the steps one at a time, so progress was slow. Behind her, in the driveway, Isa and Martin were lifting several bags out of the trunk of the autocab. Erin had been amazed by the number of things one small child required for a stay of only a couple weeks.
As she reached the top of the stairs, the door opened.
“Auntie Tanis!” Jude exclaimed when he saw the tall, blonde woman standing in the doorway.
He clambered up the remaining stairs with added vigor, almost tripping over the top tread, then pulled his hand out of Erin’s to run to the door.
Tanis laughed and squatted down, holding out her arms to the little boy, who launched himself into them. As she stood up, Jude hugged her neck and wriggled with excitement.
“Auntie Tanis!” he said again.
“And how is Auntie Tanis?” Erin asked, laughing. She crossed the threshold and followed the Governor of New Canaan into her home.
“Pretty good,” Tanis replied. “Glad to be home?”
“You bet,” said Erin. “I’m even more glad to be going back to Athens with Martin and Isa. Thanks for offering to look after Jude for us. What’s been happening with you?”
Tanis’s eyes crinkled as she let out a rueful laugh. “Do you want the long boring story or the short boring story?”
“Uh, the short one?”
Angela interjected.
“Ang, you’ll scare them off,” said Tanis. “Come around to the back deck. Isa and Martin will know where to find us.”
While they were waiting for the others to bring in Jude’s things, Tanis gave Erin a brief account of the political machinations she was dealing with. It all sounded tedious and irritating, and Erin was glad she was only hearing the short version.
Before long, Joe came up from the barn. Jude was clearly very familiar with ‘Uncle Joe’ too. He climbed down from Tanis’s lap, ran over to him, and grabbed his legs.
“Hey, little fella,” Joe said.
Then two people Jude seemed to like best of all ran up onto the deck. The minute he saw Cary and Saanvi, Jude lost all interest in Joe and jumped up and down, saying, “Let’s play fishing. I want to play fishing!”
Cary turned to Erin. “Is it OK if we take Jude out onto the lake? Last time he was here, we kind of promised.”
“Sure,” said Erin. “That’s fine. He’ll love it.”
As Tanis and Joe’s daughters were taking Jude down to the water, Isa and Martin finally made it out onto the deck.
“We put Jude’s bags in the hall,” Isa said. “Sorry, there are quite a few.”
“No problem,” said Joe. “Do you have time for a drink?”
“We do,” Isa replied. “We don’t need to be at the spaceport for a while. We wanted to allow plenty of time to get Jude settled in before we leave.”
“Great,” Joe said, sitting down in an armchair. “Let our servitor know what you’d like.”
“I don’t think we need to be concerned about Jude missing us,” Erin said to Isa and Martin, looking beyond the deck to the open threshold of the boathouse, where Cary and Saanvi were putting a lifejacket on the little boy. “He seems to feel right at home.”
Martin had walked straight to the railing that ran around the deck and was watching the children. He turned around and said, “I’m not sure that Jude’s safe out there.”
The servitor had arrived and began delivering their drinks as Tanis asked, “Out on the water? Joe told the girls that they have to make sure Jude’s wearing a lifejacket whenever he’s anywhere near the lake.”
“Ease up, Martin,” Isa said. “The kid’s in the sea more than he’s out of it. He learned to swim before he could walk, remember? I’m sure he’ll be fine.”
Martin appeared unconvinced, but he didn’t reply, simply returned his attention to the boathouse.
“I’ve been coming over here a lot, Erin,” said Isa with a knowing glance in Martin’s direction. “Probably too much, but Jude is really comfortable with the girls.” She looked meaningfully at Tanis, who returned a conspiratorial smile.
“Not at all,” she said. “We love seeing you, don’t we, Joe? It makes a nice change to talk to someone who isn’t a politician or in the military.”
Erin said, “We really appreciate you guys looking after Jude.”
“No problem,” Tanis replied. “It’s the least we can do, after everything you three have done for New Canaan.”
“That’s nice of you,” said Erin, “but I’ve only been doing my job. And now I get the cherry on the cake! An entire space station project all to myself. You wouldn’t believe how much I’ve been looking forward to it.”
“Is she going on about her space station again?” asked Martin, who had managed to drag his attention away from what was going on at the lakefront.
“Erin’s very welcome to talk about the new space station at Troy,” said Tanis. “I’m interested to hear about her plans.”
“See?” said Erin. “If the governor of New Canaan is interested, what do you have to complain about? Better than a boring old aquarium.”
“A boring old aquarium?” Martin’s eyebrows rose nearly to his hairline. “Are you referring to what will be New Canaan’s largest marine safari park, featuring an unheard-of range of underwater environments and aqua experiences?”
“Yes,” Erin said. “Exactly. A boring old aquarium.”
Isa said, “Please excuse my husband and wife. They love to wind each other up.”
Martin had become distracted once more, however. He was looking out over the lake, where Cary and Saanvi’s boat was gliding across the water. Saanvi was sitting with Jude in the bow and handing him a mini fishing rod.
“Looks like it’s fish for dinner,” replied Tanis.
“I’m sorry, but that really doesn’t seem very safe,” Martin said.
“What do you mean?” asked Isa. “Jude’s wearing a lifejacket, and the girls are great at looking after him.”
“Yes, but….” Martin’s jaw muscle twitched. “I should go over to the boat and help them out.”
“I don’t think that’s necessary,” said Isa.
But Martin was already walking down the steps to the lawn.
“What’s he planning to do?” Tanis asked. “We only have the one boat. I guess he could ask the girls to come back to the shore and pick him up.”
“Oh, he won’t bother with that,” said Isa resignedly.
Martin was striding into the boathouse.
“Is he…?” asked Tanis. “Don’t tell me he’s going to swim out to them.”
“Yeah, he is,” Isa sighed. “Honestly, ever since he got h
is mods, he’s been worse than ever.” She said to Erin, “I’ve been bringing Jude here to give him a break from Martin taking him swimming all the time. Now that Malcolm can deal with everything at the seeding site, Martin’s had the freedom to focus all his attention on Jude, which means swim, swim, swim.”
Out on the lake, Martin’s head broke the water’s surface and then dipped below it again.
“Unbelievable,” said Erin. “Do we even have time for this? How long is it before we have to leave for the spaceport?”
“About half an hour,” Isa replied.
“You know,” said Tanis. “Jude really is one hundred percent safe with the girls.”
“Of course he is,” Isa said. “We know that. Martin knows it too, or he wouldn’t have brought him here. He just gets….” She looked at Erin for the right word.
“Twitchy?”
“Yeah, twitchy,” said Isa. “It’s the first time ever he’s been away from Jude.”
“He seems so overprotective,” said Erin. “But I guess it’s different for me. I’m used to leaving Jude with you and Martin.”
“Well it’s my first time too,” Isa said, “but I don’t mind. Jude will be happy as a clam here with Tanis, Joe, and the girls, and I can’t wait to get back to Athens. Mikkel’s Cocktail Lounge, here I come!”
“It’s going to be great,” said Erin, her gaze focused on the lake, where Martin’s head had appeared next to the boat. He was talking to Cary and Saanvi.
“What will you be doing once you get to Troy, Isa?” Joe asked.
Isa’s eyes lit up as she replied, “I’m opening an art experience center. I have a place lined up, I just need to fit it out and set up my installations.”
“Cool,” said Joe. “What kind of installations?”
“They’re amazing,” Erin said. “Isa’s invented a new perceptive experience. She records natural landscapes and makes them dynamic and interactive, adding her own artistic twist. It’s hard to describe. If you’re ever in Troy, you should check them out.”
