by J. Naomi Ay
“There won’t be any more next times,” Shika snapped, now reaching for Gabe. "You're out, too, Mr. Communications. Anybody who has wings gets to take advantage of the forest."
"Hey!" Gabe protested. "This is my RV, son. I found it. I was also here first. You and your brother can stay outside in the rain. Right, Cassie? That's only fair."
"Don't look at me. You're on your own. All of you," Katie announced, heading to the door. "I'm going outside to sleep in a tree."
"Really, Cassie?” Gabe made to follow her outside. “Alright. I guess if you’d rather do that, I will, too. I'm sure there's something redeeming about clinging to a branch.”
"Absolutely not," Shika shouted, balling his fists, and stepping in front of Gabe’s path. "Sorry, Gabe. She just told you, you're on your own. So leave her alone, and by the way, her name isn’t Cassie. It’s Katie. That’s Katie with a T."
“Right!” Gabe slapped his hand on his forehead. “I keep forgetting that, on account of I’ve called her Cassie for the last nine hundred million years. But, hey, she wanted to change it, so I’ve got no problem with that. Wait for me, Cassie!” He forcefully shoved Shika aside.
With fists raised, and nearly identical snarls on their lips, the two men parlayed back and forth in the Winnebago’s tiny living room. As if parodying a waltz, the men took two steps in each direction, before bumping into a wall, or the built-in sofa, or the kitchen cabinet.
"Steve," Rent warned, poking his head up from that same cabinet, where he was searching for something edible. "I don't think this is our business. Maybe it's not a good idea to fight? I wonder where Mom hid the crackers."
"This isn’t your business," Gabe agreed, just as Shika launched a fist in his direction, whereupon Gabe successfully blocked it, and knocked it back. "Cassie and I have an understanding, a relationship, shall we say? Unfortunately, that doesn't include any of you."
"Actually, it does include us," Shika declared. "In case you've forgotten, she's our mother. Hey, Rent. I'm wondering if we might have made a mistake. Remember that note Dad left us about using his sword to kill his brother? I'm thinking that Gabe was the brother we were supposed to off."
"Gabe!" Arsan called impatiently from door. "It's raining, and I'm hungry. Can I come back inside, and get something to eat?"
"The only food I’ve found is half a bottle of wine and a brick of moldy cheese," Rent announced. "Oh, wait. I see a jar of olives."
"Black ones or green ones?"
"What does it matter?" Shika nearly screamed. His protest was further punctuated by a rumble of thunder overhead, and the loud staccato tapping of hail stones on the RV's metal roof. "We've got a serious issue here, and all you guys can think about is food."
Now, the Winnebago began to shake as the hail came down harder, and lightning sent a series of jagged streaks across the sky. Arsan burst back inside, followed by Katie, who begrudgingly returned.
"You're back!" Gabe cried jubilantly, as if they had been gone for hours.
"Lightning storm," Katie grumbled. "Not that smart to sit in a tree."
"Sounds like he's pissed off," Arsan added, shaking himself off like a wet dog. "Rent, are you going to eat all those olives?"
"No. I hate green ones filled with pimento," Rent replied, attempting to trim the mold off of the cheese.
"You know, most storms occur naturally," Katie snapped, collapsing at the tiny breakfast table, as the camper rattled from the wind raging outside. "Atmospheric pressure, surface pressure, dew point, and wind, they all play a part in storm systems. Rain and hail don’t just happen because some guy with anomalies in his blood gets angry and decides to take his frustrations out on us.”
“Are you sure?” Arsan asked, taking the olives from Rent. “He does this all the time. Anybody else want an olive before I finish them?"
“Actually, most of the time when it rains on us, it is because of him, Cassie,” Gabe said. "No thanks. I'm with Rent. I hate pimentos, too."
“You guy make me sick,” Shika grumbled, taking the seat across from his mother.
“Me too, Dad?” Arsan teased, drinking the olive juice, as if it were something tastier than salty brine. After which, he flopped down on the sofa, leaving wet shoes in the center of the room. “It sounds like Cassie is still in denial.”
“I'm afraid so." Gabe nodded with a smile. "She's so sweet and so innocent. I can't believe I never noticed her lovely qualities before."
"Sweet and innocent?" Arsan echoed.
“Angelic.” Gabe sighed. Arsan coughed, choking on his olive juice.
"Arsan!" Shika barked. “She’s your grandmother, and I’ll have you treat her with respect.”
“Stop it,” Katie commanded. “We need to have a discussion."
“About what?” Rent closed all the kitchen cabinets, having discovered no other food. "Maybe later, one of us can go to the store."
“Sure,” Gabe replied. “Cassie and I can walk over to the Beer and Bait down the road.”
“We need to discuss Mom and Gabe!” Shika interrupted, pointing his finger accusingly at the elder. “We came here to rescue you, only to find out you’ve…you’ve…”
“Already been rescued?” Gabe added helpfully.
Katie sighed again, and waved her hand. "I don't need rescuing now, thank you very much. Where were all of you guys when I was lost in space? Or, how about when I was in a pod careening out of control through the Black Eye Galaxy? How come none of you guys managed to find me then? Now that I'm safely here on Earth, all four of you show up at once."
"Maybe, that's not the reason we're all here?” Rent prompted, beginning to pace the small distance of the room, while thunder shook the camper once again. “I mean, maybe the rescuing was only a small part of his plan, or not his plan at all. Maybe, it was the excuse to put us all together."
“Probably,” Gabe agreed. “Usually, his actions are multi-tiered, and several layers deep. Although, I know why I’m here, which is to keep tabs on Cassie. I was ordered to take care of her, and make sure she doesn’t get hurt.”
“Not in the way you have been!” Shika snapped, balling up his fists again. "You've too liberally interpreted your job description."
“Actually, I think Gabe was supposed to do it that way,” Arsan shrugged, “See, none of us ever really liked Cassie before, so I bet this is how he wants us to get to know her better.”
"Well, it certainly worked for me."
“Shut up, Gabe,” Shika growled.
“This is ridiculous,” Katie snapped.
“But, what if he brought us all here just so he could kill us?” Rent continued.
“He did just execute the entire line of Korelesks,” Shika considered. “You may not be too far off from the truth, Rent.”
“Who got killed?” Gabe asked. “Did I meet them?”
“I don’t think you did,” Arsan replied. “I met a few, and personally, I don’t think there was much of a loss.”
“So what do we do about it?” Rent asked, gazing out the window at the dark, foreboding sky.
“He won’t kill Cassie,” Gabe replied. “That’d be like cutting off his own arm.”
“He’s not averse to cutting off his own limbs,” Arsan said. “Remember that time he practically chopped off his leg?”
“That was a bear,” Katie insisted.
“Was it?” Gabe asked.
“I have no clue what’s going on,” Rent mumbled. “What bear? Who cut off their leg, and who in the heck is Cassie? Starvation is making me totally confused.”
"We're all confused," Katie replied. “I’ll go to the store and get you some food. And, they think Cassie is me.”
"Are you?"
Katie shrugged, forcing a weak smile at her youngest son, before laying her head down on the table. “I don’t know who or what I am anymore.”
“So tell us.” Shika looked to Arsan and Gabe. “You guys seem to have all the answers.”
“Not all,” Gabe replied, as the lights in the camp
er blinked.
Everyone stared up at the fixture overhead. Rent and Shika held their breaths.
“Speak,” Shika ordered cautiously, not shifting his eyes from the wavering light. “Communicate. We’re waiting.”
“For the lamp?” Rent asked. “Is it going to talk?”
“I hope not,” Gabe said. “That would be disturbing.”
The wind howled, and the lights flickered.
“See, Mika,” Arsan began to explain. “He got hung up on this no-account…”
“No account?” Katie shrieked, raising her head to glare at the boy, just as the light made a popping sound and went out.
“Ah!” Rent screamed.
“Oh!” Shika cried, while Katie rose to her feet and knocked the fixture with her hand.
It blinked once again before illuminating brightly, even brighter than it had been before.
“Well done, Cassie. You’re very good at that type of thing,” Gabe said. “But, in terms of rank, you have always been pretty low. I mean, if we were to line up everyone, you’d be somewhere below the cherubs, barely above the mortals, and lesser creatures.”
“She was a Captain,” Rent reminded them.
“Apparently, service in the Allied Spaceforce doesn’t count,” Katie grunted, returning to the dinette set.
“Hold on.” Shika rose and approached Gabe. “Are you saying that Mom is one of you? But, she can’t do anything.”
“Thank you, sweetheart. It’s so good to see you again. So far, you’ve been totally useless.”
“You know what I mean, Mom. You don’t have any supernatural powers like those guys.”
Gabe and Arsan both nodded.
“She fixed the light,” Rent said.
“I could have pounded on it, too,” Shika snapped.
“But you didn’t, Steve.”
“That’s why we need to protect her,” Gabe interrupted.
“Mika ordered it,” Arsan added.
“From who?” Rent turned his gaze back to the window. “Does anyone see that thing out there? I can’t tell what or who it is.”
“It might be our other evil brother,” Arsan suggested, heading to the window to look for himself.
“Oh no. Is Luka here?” Katie groaned and shivered. “Don’t let him in. I can’t deal with him right now.”
“Luka,” Shika muttered, just as another bolt of lightning crossed the sky. “Isn’t he the dude I killed with the Dad’s sword?”
“Don’t say his name out loud,” Rent cautioned, leaving the window to pace again. “Maybe when you do that, it summons him from the grave.”
“You killed him with a sword?” Katie muttered. “Was that before or after I shot him?”
“I think it was after,” Gabe replied. “Not that it matters.”
“Mika has killed him millions of times, but he always comes back,” Arsan added, closing the drapes. “Usually in the form of a large snake.”
“I hate snakes,” Rent muttered.
“And, that was before you even knew they were part of your family,” Gabe added.
“This is all too much for my simple brain to handle,” Katie moaned.
“Yeah?” Shika snapped. “And, you’re one of them. How do you think it sounds to us?”
It was at that moment, a knock sounded on the Winnebago’s door. Coincidentally, or not, the lights in the camper flickered out again.
“It’s him,” Rent whispered.
“Who?” Gabe asked. “Our brother?”
“Which brother?” Arsan replied. “Not that it matters. It’s getting kind of difficult to tell the difference between them lately.”
“What do you want?” Shika yelled at the door.
The knocking grew louder as everyone held their collective breaths.
“This is stupid!” Katie announced. “Do you think if it was one of them, they’d bother to knock?”
Rising to her feet, she swung open the door, letting in a torrent of sideways rain.
“Oh no!”
“What?” Shika cried.
“Who?” Rent gasped.
“Do you have any extra batteries?” a voice asked. “Oh my gawd! Would you look at that, Bud! Captain Perfect! It’s you!”
Chapter 6
When Senya heard a woman's footsteps crossing the marble floors of his mansion, his first thought went to Katie.
"You're home," he murmured aloud, before he realized how ludicrous that would be.
The footsteps didn't belong to Katie. They were too light, too quickly spaced, and the shoes had soft rubber soles with laces that slapped from side to side as the girl walked. Katie always wore heels that made a tap-tap noise, except when she was in space, and then, she wore boots with soft leather soles.
When Katie came home from her day at Spacebase Rozari, she would stop in the entry hall to set down her bag. She'd step out of her shoes, and set them in the hall closet, hanging up her coat on a wooden hanger just for that purpose. Then, she would loosen her tie, if she wore one, and unbutton the first two buttons of her blouse.
Katie would pause before the mirror to take out the clip that held her curls in a regulation Spaceforce bun. He would listen to her finger-combing her curly tresses, for he could hear every strand as it settled in a new place, as well as the soft intake of her breath as her hair fell down across her shoulders.
From his office all the way across the foyer and up one flight of stairs, Senya could hear the gentle movement of air as she sighed. Even though he was behind several closed doors, and inevitably someone was talking on his vid, Senya would pause whatever he was doing to listen to her.
He always wished she’d hurry up. He didn’t care if her hair was combed, and the buttons, he would gladly have undone himself. But, she took her time, never realizing how anxiously he waited, never knowing how he planned his day around this evening ritual.
Often, Katie would stop to water the plants in the indoor courtyard, the vast bed of tropical foliage, which filled the mansion with their perfume. She'd remove dead flowers, or pinch back shoots, pulling out stray weeds, and dirtying her hands. After which, she’d head to the washroom, delaying their reunion further.
Sometimes, she would go directly to the kitchen, and gaze into the refrigerator, while humming and tapping her foot. He would listen to this faint concert as it reverberated off the marble floors and echoed off the walls, ending only when she decided what she wanted to prepare.
Something would be removed from the freezer and placed in the micro to defrost, or her voice would be heard making reservations. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, equivalent to fifty million years, or so, Katie would wander upstairs and poke her head into the office.
"Oh, you're home," she'd always say, as if she was surprised to find him there. "I thought you had a meeting until later this afternoon. It's going to be a while before dinner is ready. If I get inspired, I might make something special for dessert."
"I don’t need anything special," he'd always say, “Only you.”
He’d beckon her closer, despite who was talking on his vid, breathing in her scent of cinnamon-like perfume mixed with a little sweat. He relished the warmth of the heat wafting off her body, which never failed to cause a pleasurable tightening in his groin, prompting him to brush aside everything he had been doing up until now.
"I should go change out of this uniform," she’d usually say, her soft hands attempting, but failing to hold him back.
"I will help you with that," he usually replied with a throaty laugh.
The vid would click off, and for a few minutes, Senya would forget everything that had been plaguing him that day. For a few minutes, he would lose himself in her. For a few minutes, he would fly above the mountains without summoning his wings.
How long had it been since a moment like that? Was it days, weeks, years or eons? How much time had passed since she had wrapped him in her arms?
Senya felt a thickness in his throat and a heaviness in his chest, the pains of a morta
l body consumed by grief. The only way to assuage these horrid feelings was to drown them in the liquid which made the body numb, and so he did, every day without fail.
Senya had been dozing when he heard those footsteps, which didn’t belong to Katie, trespassing across his marble floors. Laboriously, he lifted his head from the prone position where he lay, wondering what woman had arrived at his house.
No image came to mind. No person, beyond his missing wife, would dare to traverse his courtyard, and mount the stairs. Yet, she did. She went all the way to the third floor, to the bedrooms which sat dusty, cold and empty.
Gingerly, Senya rolled over on his back, using his hands to move his reluctant left leg. Then, he lay there in the darkness, listening intently. His head swam, desperate for more drink, as a door upstairs closed and a lock clicked behind it. A heavy bag was set upon the floor. The rubber soled shoes were removed and tossed aside.
Now, bare feet crossed the room in the direction of the bathroom, pausing only briefly to switch a light before going inside. The plumbing swished, and the sink drained, after which the girl returned to the bedroom. Jumping upon the bed, she settled down. The mattresses sighed and exhaled a breath of air beneath her slender weight, and the sheets rustled, followed by a blanket heaving. A vid clicked on, and music filled the room. Senya heard the girl laugh, her voice high and sweet.
"Sara," he whispered to himself.
She was Shika's girl, the one he begat with a Xironian slave. How many years ago was that? Not very long, for she had been quite small when he last recalled her presence. Katie had loved the girl immensely. Before they left Mishnah, before they began the vacation that changed the world, Sara had brought Katie a new life.
Senya didn't know what Sara was doing here, but neither did he really care. The girl had never held any interest to him, and certainly, she didn't now.
In fact, all Senya cared for, at the moment, was the pounding in his brain. This was due to the cramped muscles in his neck, which were only exasperated by his position on the ground. The floor was hard and cold, the marble unforgiving beneath his head, but he had neither the inclination, nor the ability to rouse himself further.
