A Year and a Day

by Gail Daley

  The day after the children arrived at the base, everyone who ate meals in the commissary was treated to random farting and burping noises accompanied by realistic stinks. It had taken maintenance three days to find out where the noises and smells originated and put a stop to it.

  Apparently during this same period there had been a programming glitch in the robocleaners used by base: it seemed the machines had taken to racing each other down the halls with little or no regard for the safety of any humans unfortunate enough to be in their vicinity.

  Although Zack had displayed an unseemly amusement when Katherine explained the necessity for hiring a governess for the children, he had recommended Jayne Muler, a dark eyed woman from the planet Azteca who was expecting the arrival of her twin boys any day. Although Azteca had survived the war intact, the economy had been devastated, and Jayne’s prospects for earning a living there had been bleak.

  "Once we arrive home the children will be linked into the planetary education network and receive lessons from there," Katherine had explained to Jayne. "Your duties will mostly consist of ensuring they actually do those lessons. Hopefully we won’t have anymore, green or blue stains going into any dispensers!"

  Jayne’s dark eyes lit with amusement. "That was them?" she asked, chortling.

  "Well, I don’t have any actual proof," Katherine admitted, "But I’m pretty sure the staining ingredients came out of Lucinda’s paints and Rupert’s tests did show an aptitude for chemistry."

  "But I heard that one of your girls got ‘greened’ too," Jayne protested.

  "That was probably retribution; I should warn you that Jayla and the other girls aren’t exactly the best of friends. Thankfully, once we arrive on Vensoog, Jayla will not be in your charge any longer. In the meantime, I’ll try to find another mother to help you with the children, and enlist the kids to help you amuse your twins. The busier they are the better. I'm going to try to get some games and vids to help keep them occupied aboard ship. If you hear of a good shop in town please let me know."

  "And the racing robots, was that them too?"

  "Well, both Juliette and Roderick seem to have a working knowledge of programming, so it’s possible."

  "And what does Violet show an aptitude for?"

  Katherine frowned. "Although of high intelligence, nothing stands out. Violet seems to show a very deep empathic streak. I think that is why her nightmares are so vivid."

  A few days later, Jayne informed Katherine that another soldier had told her about a shop in the city that not only sold children’s games and toys and seemed to specialize in the kind that could be used and stored in the close quarters they would be occupying on shipboard.

  She had notified Gideon that she expected the results of the matching program to finish that afternoon, but she already had her own results. Zack had been right; she should have had more faith in her own programing skills. Their results showed a 98% compatibility. She wanted to tell Zack in private but regrettably, he had ridden a shuttle up from the surface to the spaceport on Selene to ensure the entire unit’s personal luggage made it to the Dancing Gryphon.

  Katherine wasn’t particularly good at waiting for something she wanted. It was soon evident that the children were picking up her tension, and with Jayne occupied with her teething toddlers, one of whom was running a fever, she decided that what they all needed was an outing to work off the energy. Katherine opted to check out the shop Jayne’s acquaintance had recommended.

  "I have a feeling that if I don’t get them out of our quarters there will be bloodshed soon," Katherine said in exasperation after breaking up a squabble that had come to blows between the boys over a vid screen game.

  "Do you mind if I don’t come with you?" Jayne asked over the wails of her little boy. "I think I need to take Tom to the Medic to make sure this is just teething. Otherwise, the Captain may be reluctant to take us on the ship in case he’s contagious. I’ll take John with us so you won’t have to bother with him."

  "Yes, go," Katherine agreed, making shooing motions at her. "We’ll be fine."

  After calling the robocar service, she asked Jayla and Lucas if they wanted to come as well, and was mildly surprised when Jayla agreed. It was true the girl had been more cooperative and friendly since the green dye incident, but Katherine suspected it was the idea of shopping itself that had encouraged her to participate in the outing.

  Darla Lister watched them go, unobtrusively standing close enough to hear their first destination. Thoughtfully, she walked over to the two men who had been watching arrivals and departures for several days. Although they dressed the part, they were not members of the service. Standing near enough for the men to hear her, but not so close as to appear talking to them, she said to no one "They’ll probably be hitting Ben’s Cyclomart before they come home. Might be a good time to catch them."

  One of the men said out of the side of his mouth, "What’s it to you where they go?"

  Darla shrugged. "Oh, nothing, really. I just thought your pal Grouter might be interested. I hear the kids took something valuable with them when they escaped."

  "What do you know about the boss’s business?" the older one demanded.

  "Oh, I just hear things. Use it or not, as you please," Darla strolled away.

  The two looked at each other. "Boss’d be mighty happy to get that data cube back," Sanders, the younger, shorter one suggested.

  "Ben’s is in the Grinder's Turf," the other observed. "Not many security cams there. Didn’t you used to run with the Grinders back in the day? We could maybe hire them for a share of the reward Grouter promised."

  "Have to cut them in anyway; it’s their turf," Rogers the older one agreed, and made the call to open negotiations with his old comrades in crime to attack Katherine and the children as a diversion while they grabbed Juliette and as many of the other kids they could.

  Katherine dropped Jayne and her boys off at the Medical center before proceeding to a large shopping mall in the center of town. Although she was used to the hustle and bustle of Port Recovery on Vensoog, the sheer volume and variety of the selections here awed her somewhat and she let the children drag her from one display to another.

  She found several games and vids of the types she wanted for the children, but discovered that her tastes didn’t match with what the children had in mind. Jayla wanted makeup and jewelry. Juliette and Roderick wanted a set of electronic tools that should have been much too advanced for them to use. Lucinda found a computerized drawing program that would allow her to create paintings on a screen and save them. Lucas and Rupert seemed much more interested in the types of toy weapons and games offered. Violet gave the impression of being overwhelmed by the crowds and clung to Juliette like a leech.

  After a consult with Gideon about Jayla and Lucas, Katherine purchased it all and had it sent back to the base.

  Diplomatic Immunity

  JAYNE was sitting in one of the patient compartments waiting for the Medic, and vainly attempting to amuse two cranky children when two voices from the next booth over attracted her attention. The cubicles in the Medical center were divided by thin plastia sheets to insure privacy. Their thin skins could be recycled into the sterilizer between patients, which helped cut down on the passing of infections. The plastia skins were supposed to be sound resistant too but often failed in this respect.

  "Lister’s got her nose out of joint," one of them reported gleefully.

  "Serves her right," the other agreed. "Bitch thinks she’s too good for the likes of us. I heard that Lieutenant she had her eye on turned her off and hooked up with that Diplomat from Vensoog."

  "She’s a looker that one. Can’t say as I blame him none," the other replied.

  "Well, I say she ought to watch her back. That Lister’s a mean one. Why I hear she suckered some dumb corporal into sending that woman and the kids down to Ole Ben’s Cyclomart."

  "Shame," the other opined, "Grinders’ll get ‘em for sure down there. I hear they got a tie in wi
th Ole Ben so’s he tags them when he’s got a rich fish come into the shop."

  Jayne had sat frozen during the entire dialog. At first, it had only been idle curiosity that made her listen, but she soon realized they were gossiping about Lady Katherine and the children.

  "Oh, No, what have I done," she whispered. After a brief, lip biting indecision, she got out her com and chimed Zack and Gideon and blurted out the whole story.

  "I’m so sorry," she said. "But how could I know she meant bad?"

  "It’s alright, Jayne," Gideon responded soothingly. "We’ll just commandeer a car and go escort them home. You just finish up with the boys at the center."

  After an extended lunch as chaotic as the shopping had been, Katherine found she still hadn’t gotten several of the items that had been on her list, so she gave the order to proceed to the shop Jayne’s fellow soldier had recommended.

  Unfortunately, when they arrived the street was being torn up for some type of maintenance and they had to park the robocar several blocks from the shop. Although somewhat disappointing in size, Ben’s Cyclomart did prove to have some instructional art vids as well as several different types of games suitable for a child Violet’s age. However, the displays were a disorganized mess and they spent some time wandering around in the shop.

  When they left the store, Katherine was surprised to find it was late afternoon. She was annoyed to discover that the car didn’t respond when she summoned it.

  "Well, I guess we’ll just have to walk," she told the children. "Come on, it isn’t that far."

  Just as they stepped onto the walkway, she heard the door of the shop close and the lock snick closed behind them. "Well!" she exclaimed, "I guess we interrupted his tea time or something."

  Juliette grabbed her hand. "I don’t think that’s it. Look."

  Three young, tough looking men were approaching them, followed at a distance by two older ones. Katherine had helped fight bandits in the hills above Corrine’s estate as a teenager, and she recognized the type.

  "Well, Hell," she said, handing her packages to Jayla and unsnapping her force wand from her boot. She handed Lucinda the controller for the car. Muttering curses under her breath at the storekeeper for locking the door, Katherine quickly told Jayla to lead the run for the car and get to safety, and for Lucas to bring up the rear.

  She opened her Force Wand and moved out in front of the gang, extending the wand to its full fighting length and beginning to whirl it. A Vensoog Force Wand is made of reinforced titanium covered in hardwood. One of the ends would give forth a graduated electric stun, and a thin sharp blade would pop out of the other on command. Created as a control for Water Dragons, at its maximum power the stunning end was lethal to humans. Katherine turned it on full. She intended to make sure none of these thugs hurt her children, and she didn’t particularly care if it was fatal or not.

  "Hey," the Rogers said, "I thought there were only five kids. I see seven."

  "Let’s take all of them. If we have an extra, we can always sell her to Van Doyle. He always wants fresh meat," Sanders commented.

  "What about the big kid? He kind of looks military."

  "He can go down with the woman." Sanders shoved the three members of the street gang they had hired as a diversion toward Katherine. "Get going, you. I don’t want them running back into the shop."

  Behind her, Katherine heard the children racing for the car as the three muggers circled her looking for an opening. Knowing she couldn’t let them get behind her, Katherine jumped forward, bringing the Force Wand around in a swing designed knock the attacker on the right off his feet. He screamed and fell as she connected with the lethal end of the wand. Continuing the turn, she brought the wand up toward the middle foe’s chin. This time she didn’t connect cleanly, because the third man dived at her under the wand in attempt to take her off her feet. The blow on the middle attacker was too light, and she missed with the deadly end of the wand, clipping him on the shoulder. The hit stunned him, but he didn’t go completely out. The third man’s dive had succeeded in knocking her down and she hit the ground hard with a whoosh! of air blowing out of her lungs. As she fell, she retracted the wand back to half size. Even while she gasped for air, her newly acquired mother’s instinct made her aware of the other sounds of combat. Juliette and Jayla screamed and Lucas yelled. Desperate to go and help, she jabbed the lethal end of the wand into the eye of the man who had knocked her down and he slumped on her, a dead weight. She shoved him off and managed to stagger to her feet. In the meantime, Grouter’s man Rogers had managed to take out Lucas, and Sanders had succeeded in grabbing Jayla and Juliette.

  They weren’t having it all their own way however. Roderick tucked into a ball and rolled towards Rogers’s feet, and Rupert leapt onto his back, pulling hair and biting. Lucinda succeeded in getting the car doors open and pushed the alarm for the city police. She shoved Violet into the car, yelling at her to talk to the police dispatcher.

  Lucinda grabbed a metal torch and returned to attack the man struggling to hold Jayla and Juliette, hitting him as hard as she could in the back of the knees.

  The last remaining gang member saw the murderous stare on Katherine’s face as she rose, and ran like a rabbit from the scene. Katherine turned and rushed toward the fight still going on. As she ran, she heard the muted hum of a combat air car coming in low and fast. She knew an instant of heart-stopping fear before she recognized Vernal at the controls.

  As the car slowed to pass over the men fighting the children, Zack and Gideon dropped from the open door in a smoothly practiced maneuver. Each of them landed feet first just behind the two remaining thugs. Grouter’s men were street fighters. They were no match for two combat-trained veterans. Both children’s would-be kidnappers were dead with their necks snapped before Katherine reached them.

  Seeing her children safe, she stopped to check on Lucas and was relieved to find him attempting to sit up. "I’ll take him ma’am," said Vernal who had finally managed to land the "borrowed" combat car and knelt beside Lucas with a first aid kit.

  Gideon comforted a weeping Jayla as he went over to check on Lucas.

  Zack simply grabbed all his children and Katherine in a stifling hug, holding them still for a moment. "Everyone ok?" he asked tightly. Muffled replies answered him.

  "Okay," he said. "Kids, get your packages and wait in the car. I hear the sirens from the patrol and they will want to talk to all of us."

  "Will they arrest us?" asked Roderick fearfully.

  "What about you?" asked Rupert. "You killed them. Will they arrest you?"

  "Even here, they don’t arrest you for defending yourself," Zack assured them. "Get in the car boys. I think there are a few restorative drinks in the dispenser." He dug out a credit chip and handed it to Roderick. "Here, use this and get something for all of us."

  He then turned on Katherine, gripping her shoulders and giving her a small shake. "Woman don’t you know better than to come down to this part of town? You could have been hurt, killed or—"

  Katherine gave a weak laugh. "I hope you aren’t going to be the kind of husband who yells a lot, because it can be quite tiresome. Anyway, how was I supposed to know what this part of town was like?"

  "Husband?" Zack uttered, not even hearing the last part of her statement. She held up a crystal. "Yes, the matches came back today. I’m afraid you and I are stuck with each oth—"

  Zack simply grabbed her and kissed her the way he had wanted to do for weeks. Katherine’s arms came up around his neck as she sank into the kiss.

  They were interrupted by a cough from one of the two police officers who had belatedly appeared. "Excuse me, Sir, Ma’am, but I need to find out what happened here."

  It had been very late before they had been able to return to the base since everyone had to make a trip down to the local precinct to make statements. The detective in charge had obviously had too many encounters with misbehaving soldiers on leave; he badly wanted to arrest Zack and Gideon for the
theft of the flight car which base command had reported as stolen. Katherine had been forced to invoke her diplomatic immunity to prevent this. The local police had been less than thrilled to discover that no one was left alive on the scene to dispute Katherine’s account of the attack and subsequent defense or the death of Grouters men and that of the Grinders. The remaining Grinder who had escaped had gone to ground and none of his mates seemed willing to talk about where he could be found.

  It had been after midnight when they arrived back at base to be greeted by a tense Corrine and an almost hysterical Jayne who wept copiously on Katherine’s shoulder while apologizing for sending her and the children into harm’s way. Katherine had been forced to add a mild sleeping draught to Jayne’s tea as well the children’s bedtime drinks before she could get them settled into bed. She briefly considered taking one herself but didn’t since she expected either Rupert or Violet to have one of the recurring nightmares that afflicted them, and she would need to be awake to soothe them back to sleep. Her talent required a mind unsullied by sleeping drugs.