by Dave Lemel
“That I get.” Jack looked back up at the statue. “Why does the statue make you so uncomfortable though?”
“Awww, heck, I was just a kid. So many other people contributed to that moment. So many lucky things happened, so many random sequences of chance to put me in that position that day. The praise has always made me feel uncomfortable. Always felt, in a way, unwarranted.”
“I think I get that.” Jack looked at the floor before lifting his eyes back up to the statue. “Were you scared?”
“That day? Nah. At that moment I was running purely on adrenaline. Before it, though, heck yeah. Especially before we launched. And then we had all that time in transit. Not quite the express trip available these days. This was the months and months version from before the Bopecans arrived. Further and further we got from home, it was harder and harder to keep those bad thoughts at bay.”
“How did you? Keep the bad ones at bay, I mean.”
“Well, I suppose everyone’s got to figure out their own way, but for me…” Reggie shrugged. “Multiplication.”
“Multiplication?” Jack’s face pinched severely.
“Yep. Multiplication. Had a coach in high school said he used to do multiplication in his head during conditioning when he played football in college. Helped keep his mind from focusing on the wishing it was over. Well, it never worked for me during conditioning, but, for some reason, the advice popped in my head during the days leading up to the launch. It worked pretty well, so I kept doin’ it. Everybody’s got different tricks, kid. Had a buddy who used to close his eyes, lean his head back, and go fishing with his grandpa.”
Jack shook his head. “Fishing with his grandpa?”
“Yeah. Well, not literally. His family had a little house on a lake when he was growing up. He spent a lot of time fishing there with his grandpa. While they fished, his grandpa would often sing ‘fishy fishy in the brook, fishy fishy take my hook.’ My buddy would hum it. Not even sure he knew he was doing it out loud till I asked him about it.”
Jack rubbed his pronounced chin.
Reggie leaned in and clapped him on the back a few times. “Point is, a little anxiety or fear is normal. Heck, I’d be wary of anyone who was incapable of feeling those things. Probably means they’re some kind of psycho, and sharing a space ship with a psycho is probably bad for your health.”
Jack chuckled before his gaze returned to the statue. “What did that feel like? That first step on Martian soil?”
Reggie craned his wrinkled neck to look upon the statue of the much younger man. “Kid, I’ve been gettin’ that question for over forty years, and I still lack the vocabulary to accurately describe it.” Reggie’s eyes slowly slid down the statue and found the door a bit behind it. He turned and extended his hand. Jack grasped it and shook gently. Reggie’s left hand firmly sandwiched Jack’s hand. “It was a pleasure to meet you, kid.”
“The pleasure was all mine,” Jack replied as Reggie released his hand and headed for the door.
Jack stared at the back of his hero as he pulled the door open and began to exit. Reggie stopped and glanced over his shoulder. “Whatever brought you in here today…good luck, kid.”
Jack swallowed hard. “Thank you, sir.”
Reggie crossed the threshold to the hall and the door closed behind him.
Chapter 15
Simon stared down through flooded eyes at the sleeping face of Penelope Cain, her precious little features so serene in his lap. She doesn’t deserve this, he said to himself. Ripped from her home planet. Dragged to Mars where she was now going to have to stay behind while her parents rocketed tens of millions of miles back inward through the solar system and away from her. What if neither of us survives? What if neither of her parents ever returns to her?
He struggled to regain control of his breathing as he tried with all he could muster not to start sobbing and wake his sleeping princess. The door to the Cain family Martian quarters opened, and Simon could hear Sasha telling her mother she’d let her know about dinner.
“Oh geez, again?” Sasha stopped and took in the scene she had walked in on. Simon met her eyes, tears streaming down his cheeks as he gently shook his head. She slowly made her way over to him and tenderly laid a hand on his shoulder. “I had my meltdown the other day.”
Simon stared up at her in anticipation of elaboration.
“Sorry, I just assumed those were ‘how can we leave her’ thoughts beating you up again.”
Simon shook his head up and down as a couple of tears dropped from his chin. “How much she’s been through already too. And what if we…” Simon took a few quick shallow breaths in succession. Sasha bent down and hugged him.
“We’re doing this for her,” she whispered in his ear before straightening up and moving a hand to his cheek. “So she doesn’t have to spend life on the run. Hoping from planet to planet, moon to moon, solar system to solar system. So her and her kids and her kid’s kids get the opportunity to grow up on Earth. We have to do this. We owe her this.”
Simon broke eye contact with Sasha and stared down at Penny again. “She barely even remembered me this last time.”
Just as he finished speaking, Sasha’s link began to vibrate on her arm. Simon’s simultaneously began to quiver on the small table beside his chair. Penny’s face pinched and she pressed it harder into Simon’s bicep. Sasha retreated to the small kitchen and answered the call as quietly as she could.
“Yes, sir. I’m with him now, sir. I understand. We’ll be right there.” Sasha spun to face Simon. “They have a line open with the Colorado mountain group.” Her lips curled. “Jasper is with them.”
Simon gingerly rose from his seat. Sasha strode over and gently reached out for Penny. “Give her to me. You go and talk to your brother. I’ll get her to my mom and be there in a sec.”
Simon hurried to the kitchen, cautiously stepping over a sleeping Buddy as the copper fur on the golden retriever’s chest slowly heaved in and out. He ran some cold water into his hands before splashing it on his face. He patted his face dry with a small towel, tossing it on the counter before hustling out the door and down the hall.
As Simon rounded the final corner on his route to the mission control building, Lombargnor rounded the corner at the other end of the hall. They met in the middle, entering the room through the heavy double doors side by side. “How many in the group?” Simon asked as they worked their way through the buzzing space.
“Reports were at least a hundred but not more than five. We will be finding out specifics together momentarily.”
The pair slid into a cube-like space at the center of the mission control building. Inside, two life-size holograms of a pair of men stood near one of the walls of screens. One stood straight as an arrow with dark complexion and matching dark eyes. The hair on his head was a touch longer than that on his face, both sprinkled with more salt than pepper. Beside him stood a man a few inches shorter and noticeably plumper. His eyes were the identical shade of green as the marshal now looking back at him from Mars.
“Sy!” The shorter man’s green eyes widened. “It is so good to see your face. Are Penny and Sasha with you?”
“It’s great to see you too, Jass. Yeah, they’re here and good. Sasha is on her way to join us in a minute. What about Robin and Jackie? Do you know anything about what happened with them?”
“I grabbed Robbie and fam on my way outta Denver, but I never got a hold of Jackie before they took out all cell capabilities. A lot of people were able to evacuate the city and surrounding areas before it got real bad though. Hopefully, he made it out too. Were Mom and Dad still by your place when the big attack—” Jasper choked on the final words of his question.
“No! No, they’re here on Mars. Sasha rounded ’em up just before evacuating.”
“I’m truly sorry to interrupt,” interjected Lombargnor. “This connection was exceedingly difficult to achieve, and we have no way of knowing how long it will be maintained. We must move the discussion to st
rategic matters.”
“Understood,” said Simon. “Who is this with you?” he asked his brother.
“The General.”
“Name’s actually Jerry Cooper,” said the man with the close-cropped salt and pepper beard and hair. “And please call me Jerry. I have repeatedly requested that they refrain from calling me General, but they just will not stop.”
“Because it’s perfect!” said Jasper. “You’re so The General.”
Simon chuckled and shook his head. “Are you military, Jerry?”
“Ex. Retired when this yahoo,” he jerked a thumb in Jasper’s direction, “was still crappin’ himself every time a pretty girl smiled at him. And no, I never rose to the rank of general. Retired a major.”
“How many are currently with your group?” Lombargnor asked. “I apologize for the lack of formal introduction, but time may be limited and there is much to be discussed. You may call me Lombargnor.”
“Understood,” replied Jerry. “Currently we have three hundred twenty three men, women, and children traveling in our group.”
“Vehicles? As in how many at your disposal and what types.”
“Few dozen. All types. Civilian cars and trucks, mostly, but a few commercial vehicles. Keeping them charged up has been hell. We can’t stay anywhere long, or the drone swarms will i.d. us as too large a group, and then the snakes’ll send a squad up after us.”
“Drone swarms? Snakes?” Lombargnor stroked the side of his head with a long, thin, purple finger. “Please elaborate.”
“Sorry. We call the Vikards snakes. They used most of their resources to occupy major population centers. The vast spaces between are mostly patrolled by large groups of drones that observe from above. If they spot anything they don’t like, they send a squad to round ’em up or wipe ’em out. They don’t like large groups like us clustered together in areas like this. Seem to think we may be up to something.”
“Well,” said Simon, “let’s make ’em right.”
“Oh, they already are,” replied Jasper.
“What do you mean?” Lombargnor.
“We have been plotting best we can,” Jerry responded. “Militarizing the vehicles and amassing as many weapons and supplies as we can find. No real objective yet other than that. We’d be wiped out in minutes if we tried any kind of assault on them in our current numbers and state. So, we’ve just been bouncing around old mines and cave systems. Honestly, I don’t know if we’ll ever get to the point of being able to launch an assault. We may just be hunkering down in these mountains forever and hoping they leave us alone.”
“If you are willing, we have your assault for you,” Lombargnor responded.
“What do you mean? You have some kind of mission for us?”
“Yes. We are in the final stages of prepping for departure to Earth. We do not have the luxury of time to prepare more thoroughly. The Vikards are presently at their most vulnerable. It would be extremely helpful if we could coordinate a ground assault on the Vikard stronghold currently entrenched at what used to be Star Marshal Base.”
Jerry inhaled deeply before exhaling through his nose. “I’m not sure we’re what you’re looking for, Mr. Lom…Lomby…”
“Lombargnor,” said Simon.
“Thank you. Mister Lombargnor. We are nowhere near the numbers or competent enough as a fighting force to take on a task like that.”
“It is simply Lombargnor. The ‘mister’ is not necessary. We do not need you to capture the base, major. We simply require the appearance of a full-out assault. We are coordinating with groups from the north and south of the target region as well. If we can time our aerial approach to coincide with the ground assaults, we will simply need you to provide a distraction long enough for us to get into position.”
“That’s a long way from here, Lombargnor. Crossing that much open territory will be difficult and take quite a bit of time. Weeks at best, I’d wager to guess.”
“You will have some time. We are still in the process of preparing to depart from Mars. Once we are en route, we will touch base again. At that time, you should have a more accurate estimate for how long you believe your trek will take. We will be coordinating with the other two groups as well. Our fleet will adjust speed accordingly to attempt an arrival at the target destination in unison.”
Jerry shook his head before shrugging. “Well, I suppose if we are going to try something, the sooner the better. Don’t want to wait until a bunch of reinforcements arrive.”
Lombargnor nodded. “That is the idea. And the reinforcements are on the way. We must strike a balance between rapid action and careful coordination to achieve our goal.”
“I read you loud and clear. I’ll round up our group and all the supplies we can carry and we’ll get movin’. Again, though, with the drone swarms and vehicles requiring charging, it’s going to take us a while.”
“May I ask how you are managing to charge your vehicles? Our intel indicates all power facilities were either destroyed or commandeered for Vikard purposes.”
“That is accurate. We were lucky enough to end up with a few pretty smart folks in our rag-tag crew. They’re to thank for getting us on this hol-call, and they’ve managed to slap together a few portable charging stations, but we need to find ways to power those up as we bounce around. On the trip across the Upper Midwest, I see potential for that alone to cause severe delays. At least we’re familiar with our territory here. This will be a whole new ballgame, and one with a clock ticking down, adding to the pressure—as if constantly avoiding detection wasn’t enough of a stressor already.”
“If you feel you and your group are not up to this task, I understand and will adjust our—”
“No!” Jasper jumped in. “We are helping. Can’t stand these snake scum. No way are we spending the rest of our lives scurrying from hole in the ground to hole in the ground if we can help. Anything we can do, we’re doin’ it.”
“Jasper!” Sasha entered the hol-call cube at the center of mission control. “Holy hell, it is good to see your face.”
“Hey, Sasha.” Jasper’s previously hardened expression softened at first sight of the familiar face of his sister-in-law. “Great to see you, too. Sounds like, hopefully, it’ll be in person and on Earth soon.”
“You guys are way past introductions, huh?”
“Yes, Mission Commander Cain. We were in fact on the verge of concluding this conversation so that everyone may begin departing for the target. We will be in contact with them as we go.”
“We hope,” said Jerry. “I can’t promise we’ll manage to find a way to contact you once we’re in transit, but we’ll try.”
“Thank you, Jerry. That is all we can ask,” Lombargnor responded.
“Our pleasure.”
The holographic men glimmered and vanished.
Chapter 16
Todd stared at the sterile white floor as it passed beneath his feet. His mind was a blizzard of introspection, reflection, and anticipation. A breathless voice called out to him, momentarily cutting through the blizzard. “Marshal Jordan! Marshal Jordan!”
Todd halted his forward momentum and searched for the source of the voice calling his name. He quickly identified the source as a young marshal running toward him with a feeble attempt at something resembling facial hair speckling the lower half of his face.
“Marshal Jordan.” He took a deep breath as he reached out a folded piece of paper. “This is for you.”
Todd took the small square from his hand. “Thanks.” The young marshal nodded and retreated back the way he had come. Todd unfolded the paper. He instantly recognized the handwriting as that of his father.
Todd, I hope this letter managed to reach you before you departed. I understand why you refused my requests to visit me in this box I now call home. I merely wanted to express my absolute support for you and everyone else, Bopecan included, going forward. Regardless of whatever personal opinions I have regarding the Bopecans and their motives, this is Earth we
are talking about. The current situation is unacceptable, and I have come to the realization that I bear a certain amount of responsibility for that situation. Hopefully one day you’ll be ready and willing to sit down with me and talk more. Maybe we could even have a shot at repairing our relationship a bit. For now, I at least want you to know I am pulling for all of you as you attempt to clean up my mess and I love you. Dad.
Todd refolded the piece of paper. He unzipped a small pocket on the side of his baby blue star marshal uniform and slid the note inside. He zipped it back up and turned the corner into an enormous hangar.
“Excellent. Marshal Jordan has arrived.” Todd recognized the voice as that of Lombargnor. He searched the space until finally locating the source by a group of cruisers he easily identified. As he approached, he found that he was the last of their group to arrive.
“Now that everyone is here,” Lombargnor continued, “we may depart for our orbiting vessel. No need to delay any further here on the surface. See everyone up there.”
Todd moved toward his familiar black and chrome cruiser and gestured in the direction of a heptagonal vehicle with a thin horizontal profile propped off the ground on three long legs. A ramp yawned open from the underside of the vehicle as Lombargnor approached it.
“What’s that?” Todd asked.
“My personal cruiser,” replied Lombargnor.
“What’s with you and seven-sided crafts and buildings?” asked Sasha.
“There are functional advantages to the design. The number seven does have a,” he paused in speech as well as step before continuing, “how should I put this? Bopecans hold the number seven in high regard.”
“Like spiritually or something?” asked Todd.
“In a way, I suppose. More like there is a belief that certain numbers and shapes have an almost mystical property to them. It is a very old belief. Bit silly, really, if I stop to think about it too much; but if it brings me any shot at a little good luck, I’ll gladly take it.”
