by Ben Winston
As they talked, it became clear to both Kyle and Stephanie that her parents were really happy for them. They both knew there was a lot of work ahead of them in order to get their relationship to work, but they felt up to the challenge.
“Sorry I’m late, we all got to talking and time just slipped away,” Tara said to her Mom after she got home. Luke was passed out on the couch, like normal, and Lara just smiled sadly at her only child.
“It’s alright, dear. We don’t live in the city anymore and you’re old enough that we really shouldn’t hold you to a curfew anyway. I’m just glad that you still try to apologize when you’re late,” Lara said. “I’d try to talk to your father about it, but...” She sighed looking through the kitchen to the living room.
“I’d appreciate being able to stay out later, Mom, and that kinda helps with something I want to talk to you about,” Tara said quietly.
“You’re growing up so fast. I take it that you and Kyle are getting serious?”
“Yes we are, but that isn’t the main problem, Mom. Kyle knows about this, and is okay with it, but I’m a little confused. Actually, I’m a lot confused.”
“Well, this can’t be about sex, because I can remember having that talk with you a few years ago,” Lara joked. “So what’s confusing to you?”
“Well, it’s kinda strange, and you’ll have to promise me not to freak out, okay?” Tara asked sounding a little afraid of her parent’s response.
“Honey, remember, I told you that you could talk to me about anything. I promise I won’t be upset. Uh, you’re not pregnant are you?”
“No, we’ve decided to wait to have sex, Mom. Although, I’ll see if I can get an appointment to see Dr. Williams tomorrow. No, that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about. You see there’s someone else I’ve feelings for,” Tara said biting her lip.
“Oh? And Kyle knows about this and it doesn’t bother him? Every guy I know would be ready to take another guy apart for horning in on his girl,” Lara said smiling.
“Oh, I have no doubt he would, if it were another boy...” Tara said sheepishly.
The comment stopped Lara in her mental tracks for a minute. Slowly, she worked what her daughter had just said around in her brain, trying to make sure she’d heard exactly what she’d thought she’d heard. Finally, she softly asked, “Another... girl?”
Tara tried to look guilty while she nodded softly at her mother. “I have feelings for her as strong as I do for Kyle.”
Again, Lara was quiet for time; she’d no experience in dealing with something like this. She had no problem with it, she just had no experience. However, everyone knew that three-way relationships were doomed; jealousy would eventually rip the people apart, often with devastating results.
“Oh honey, I’m afraid I can’t give you much advice about falling for another girl. I’ve just never... I don’t have any experience with it. That doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with it, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to start a three-way relationship, especially as your first. They just don’t work. Jealousy will eventually rip the three of you apart. Well, I’m sure people having problems with the whole girl loving a girl thing has a lot to do with it too. I’m afraid the only thing I can tell you is you’re going to have to choose between them. Perhaps if you do it now, before you get in any deeper, it won’t be so painful.”
“I don’t think I can do that, Mom. I love them both. I love them both so much I want to marry them both,” Tara explained. “I do know that I could never be jealous of either of them, and I do trust them both not to do anything with anyone else, it’s just part of who they are.”
“Can I ask who the girl is?” Lara asked.
“It’s Stephanie, which is why Kyle’s okay with it. He loves her, and doesn’t want to see her hurt. She’s okay with how I feel about Kyle as well. We talk quite a bit.”
Lara looked confused. “I thought he broke up with her to pursue you?”
Tara gave her mom a crooked grin. “Well, no, he never broke up with her, and they both pursued me. Actually Mom, Ian asked us if we wanted to go to school together; I guess we haven’t been as discrete as we thought we were being. He was willing to help us out. He really is a great boss. He seems to genuinely care about the families of the people that work for him. Anyway, he said he’d help us out if we wanted it,” Tara said, going out on a limb a little. At least she wasn’t technically lying to her mother.
“Yeah, he’s a great guy. He wants to meet with your father and I tomorrow evening to see about treatment for Luke. If I understood him correctly, he’ll even be paying for it. I hate to say it, but in some ways, he’s an even better boss then Elias was, and I didn’t think that was even possible,” Lara said with a sigh. “But, we’re off topic here. Do you really think that having a relationship with a boy and girl is a good idea? I mean what happens if something goes wrong? You’ll lose both of them.”
“I don’t think it’ll ever come up, Mom. As long as we talk about everything, and make sure no jealousy gets a chance to form. I’d really like to try it, but I didn’t want to spring this on you cold, besides, I really did want to talk to you about it. How do you think that Daddy will react?”
“I think we should wait until he’s sober to tell him. He isn’t the violent type, but if we tell him when he’s drunk, he may react badly and I doubt he’ll remember it. I’d like to wait until after he makes it through the rehab, but I don’t think you’re going to want to wait that long, are you?”
“No, we aren’t. We feel that this is mostly our mistake to make, even though we don’t feel it’s a mistake at all,” Tara said. “Besides, I’m eighteen, so I feel this is a decision I should be allowed to make on my own.”
“Well, for God’s sake don’t say it that way to your father, or you’ll get the ‘Not while you live in my house’ reply! I think that is a conditioned response for parents when they hear that,” Lara chuckled. “I wish you all the luck in the world honey, I really do, but I think you’re making a bad decision. I hope you prove me wrong.”
“I’m sure I will, Mom. Just don’t freak out if you see me kissing Steph, okay?”
“Well, I might be a little more hesitant to give you permission for a sleep-over with her, now...” Lara teased.
“You can ease your mind, Mom. She has bunk beds. Our bedrooms just don’t allow for a big enough bed for two people to sleep comfortably,” Tara said.
“Bull shit! Neither you nor Stephanie is all that big, I’m sure you two would be nice and cozy in one of those twin beds – especially if you didn’t mind being really close,” Lara said grinning.
“So, you don’t mind if I spend the night over there more often, huh?” Tara teased back.
Lara chuckled, “I think you can wait until you get to your own place before you start spending too many nights with your lovers.”
“I’m really surprised you aren’t more upset with this. Most parents I know would freak out if they found out such a thing,” Tara asked.
“I think that with everything we’ve been through, I’ve learned not to over react, or ‘freak out’ as you call it until I know the whole story. Most of the time, once I do know the whole story, there is nothing left to get upset over. Talking about something is very important part of avoiding trouble.” Lara shrugged.
“Well, we promised to talk about everything, and I'll make sure we talk more about it, okay?” Tara asked.
“I think that's the smartest thing you can do, dear. Talk about everything as often as you can. That's good advice for any relationship.”
“I couldn’t believe it! While she didn't approve our choice of a relationship, she was willing to let us do this. She did ask about the two of you though. She recommended we do a lot of talking.” Tara told Kyle and Stephanie via the commlink later that night. “I wanted to ask her who she was and what she did with my mother!”
“Does your Dad know yet?” Kyle asked.
“No, he was passed out on the couch, like norma
l. I sure hope Ian and Beth really can help him; I miss him,” Tara said, sadly.
“Mom and Dad told us that we might be disappointed in the information we are supposed to get tonight. Dad said that it would be mostly about the Talosian society and stuff like that – not really what we wanted to know,” Stephanie said.
“Well, I don’t think it really matters at this point. I mean he did say we didn’t have to be fighter pilots. He said there was plenty of other stuff we could learn to do. I really don’t care, as long as we can be together,” Tara said. “I miss you guys so bad now it hurts.”
“I know, we miss you too,” Stephanie answered. “Daddy also suggested we need to do more talking about things; he wanted to make sure that there wouldn’t be any jealousy. I don’t think he wants any of us to be hurt.”
“He does have a point, but for now, I'm going to have to stay over here,” Tara answered.
“You’re right, but I think... Well, for our first time at least... I think we should all be together,” Kyle said. “Don’t get me wrong, I really want to make love to you, Tara, but I don’t want that to take anything away from you and Stephanie. I think our first time should be special.”
“I think we got us a romantic here, Tara,” Stephanie said.
“Yes we do, and I’m going to give him a really big kiss as soon as I see you both tomorrow!” Tara answered. “Mom also wasn’t adverse to me spending the night with either of you once in a while, even after she found out how I felt about Steph.”
“Wow, I bet your Dad will make radical adjustments to that policy as soon as he finds out about it!” Kyle said grinning.
“Kyle Johnson! If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were afraid of my Daddy.” Tara teased.
“Sweetheart, he’s a big guy, and I’m about to deflower his only daughter, I have good reasons to fear!” Kyle chuckled.
“He’d never hurt you, Kyle. He likes you. I think he’s actually very happy that we got together. If he has a problem, it’ll be with me and Stephanie, and you know he’d never hurt her either,” Tara replied.
“Well, I’m getting tired, and I think we’re going to have a busy day tomorrow. Where do you want to meet, sweetheart?” Stephanie asked.
“How about we meet at the picnic tables about nine-thirty? We can head over to Ian’s office from there,” Tara suggested. “I’d like to talk to Beth anyway, and I bet it would be better before she gets too busy.”
“Sounds like a plan sweetheart. We’ll see you in the morning then,” Kyle said. “I love you.”
“I love you both too. Pleasant dreams.”
Chapter Sixteen
Ian was going over the construction reports and material requests when Oly chirped in his ear. “All clear, Oly, what’s up?”
Oly materialized in the office wearing a polo shirt and shorts; the standard ‘office wear’ for the admin building. “Sir, you wanted to know when the first stage of repairs was complete. As of oh-five twenty-five this morning, local time, all frame substructures and primary keel sections have been replaced. Internal bulkheads and superframe are also complete. The drones have repaired the hull back to section three hundred and all environmental and replicator systems are working perfectly on back-up power systems. The ship is safe for human occupancy,” Oly said. “In fact, I need Chief Dommer and his team up there as soon as possible to get the reactor and power systems repairs going.”
“Well done, Oly! I’m surprised Chief Dommer isn’t actually in here already demanding transportation up to the ship,” Ian said grinning.
“He would have been waiting at your door when you got here this morning, Sir, but I asked him for the privilege of making the report. He is rather impatient to get started.”
Ian typed in a few commands on his computer and a voice issued from the speakers, “Flight Ops, Ensign Tanner, how can I help you?”
“Ensign, this is Commander Williams, How are we fixed for shuttles?”
“All four are operational, sir!”
“Pre-flight one of the shuttles, and get it ready to go to the moon. The first team will be going up in four hours,” Ian ordered.
“Yes, sir!” The ensign replied eagerly.
“Who do we have listed for shuttle pilots, ensign?”
“Yourself, the XO, Ensigns Talena and Swift. We have six others just about ready to take the controls, Sir, but none have actually flown yet.”
“Very well, Ensign, thank you. I’ll alert Ensign Swift that she has a flight coming up. Please make sure the bird is ready to go for her. Command out.”
Ian typed in a few more commands, then spoke again, “Command to all senior officers; I need a staff meeting in the upper conference room as soon as you all can get here. It’s not an emergency, but it is important. Only reply if you’re going to be longer then fifteen minutes.” He waited a few seconds for any replies, and was pleased when none came. “Command to Ensign Swift.”
“Swift here, Command,” Cindy replied in a hushed voiced.
“Report to Command for a mission briefing in twenty minutes,” Ian said.
“Wilco,” Cindy replied.
“The young Johnson family is here to see you, Sir,” Jenny’s voice said from his terminal.
“Thanks Jen, please send them in.” Oly started to fade out, but Ian stopped him. “Wait Oly, I’m sure they’re here to join up, and they’ve already met you.”
Kyle, Tara, and Stephanie entered then, and Ian waved them to chairs. “Have you all come to some conclusions?”
“Yes, sir. We’ve decided that we all would like to become pilots. But we were wondering if we could also learn other things. For example, I’d really like to learn more about the fighters themselves, and so would Tara. Steph said she wanted to learn more about how the sleep teaching worked,” Kyle said.
“That’s not exactly what I said, but close. I wanted to learn more about human/machine interfacing and cybernetics. But I still want to learn to fly,” Stephanie added.
Ian grinned, “I don’t see a problem with any of that. When do you want to start?”
“You said you were going to be meeting with my folks later today about the treatment for Daddy. I think we’d like to see what happens with that first,” Tara said. “Stephanie and I would also like to see Doctor Williams, if we could?”
“I told Beth that you would like to see her today, she said to go down whenever you wanted to, and she’d be able to see you; after all, she isn’t all that busy right now,” Ian said.
“Go down? As in, down to the base?” Stephanie asked.
Ian tried hard not to laugh. “Well, that is where the main clinic’s at.” He turned to Oly. “Oly grant them access to the main level and guide them to the med bay please.” He turned back to the three. “Officially, you’re still civilians. Once you take the oath, you’ll be cadets and assigned quarters in the base near the main hangar. Don’t worry about being underground, hell, half the time you won’t even realize it. However, you will still have some duties up here. We can’t just have you all up and disappearing, so you’ll need to show your faces from time to time. Now, I have a meeting coming together right now, but if you have any more questions, feel free to ask if I’m not busy. Beth or any of the girls can answer questions too.”
The three stood and Ian stood with them, “Welcome aboard,” he said as he offered them his hand. All three shook it, and were smiling as they left.
“Those three are going to be a hell of a team one day,” Ian said to Oly after they’d left.
“Sir, the senior officers are gathering in the conference room,” Oly said.
“Well then, let’s go get your engineers on their way,” Ian said as he led the old hologram out of the room.
Cindy took a full load of engineers up to the ship to begin the human portions of the repairs. She would stay up there for a week, in case there was an emergency and someone needed to be flown out. Beth also insisted that she be allowed to send one of her three nurses for the same reason.
&nb
sp; The report by Oly that the ship was now safe enough for the engineers to go up and assist in the remaining repairs brought excitement to the rest of Ian’s staff. Everyone was in better spirits once they learned of the progress. Many of the departments expressed a strong desire to get up there so they could begin their real jobs.
A couple of weeks ago, Elias came to Ian with a problem. One of his better workers was having a hard time with a drinking problem. Ian’s first concern was for the family; were they safe? Was the man in question abusing them?
Elias assured him that wasn’t the case and the man wasn’t that kind of drunk. Elias hadn’t mentioned it before, because the man, Luke Belden, was controlling it. However, the last few days Luke had been showing up to work drunk, and Elias had sent him home to sleep it off.
After discussing it with Elias, and consulting Beth, Ian decided to approach the family about getting some help for Luke. He tried to be gentle about it, but if Luke refused help, Ian would have to let him go. Neither Elias nor Ian wanted to do that.
Ian presented the family with a few options, and tried to make sure the family knew that his concern was for them, and not ‘the project’. After talking it over for a couple of days, Luke and Lara agreed to meet with Ian and Beth to deal with the problem once and for all.
Finally, it was time for the meeting with Luke and Lara. Without preamble, Ian and Beth led Luke, Lara, and Tara to the elevator that would take them down to the base. Tara’s eyes got huge as she realized what Ian was doing.
“Luke, Lara, what I’m about to show you, and tell you about, is a very important secret. I think the reasons will become obvious once you know what the secret is. I know you will have a lot of questions, and not a little disbelief. That’s normal, and only to be expected at first. But I do ask you to give us the opportunity to explain what you are about to see, and what’s really going on,” Ian said. “I will also swear to you that every word of this explanation will be the truth.”
“That’s some lead-in, Ian. I thought we were here to discuss sending me to rehab?” Luke asked, for once, mostly sober.
