by Ben Winston
“Luke, conventional rehab offers treatment only for the chemical dependency. We can go one better than that,” Beth said as the elevator doors opened on the main entrance lobby for the base.
“Holy SHIT!” Luke said as he stepped out of the small car. “Where did all this come from? When did we build it?”
“You didn’t build it, Luke. However, it was started about the same time work began on the surface. We’re currently about two hundred feet below ground. This is where all those people that show up and seem to disappear actually go,” Ian said, carefully and slowly guiding the gawking couple toward the med bay.
“What’s... Why is this place here? Are you part of some secret government agency or something?” Lara asked, sounding a little scared.
“This base, and the community we’re building on the surface, is in no way connected to any government on the planet. All of this is just us, no one else. About four thousand years ago...” Ian began the story of the crash of the Olympus, and how the old computer had found him and why.
They’d been walking slowly, and Ian was talking fast, so by the time Ian got to the ‘why’ they were in front of the doors to the main hangar. He typed in his command code and the big doors slid open to reveal the rows of Hornet fighters, and other space craft built in the base. There was also plenty of activity; people working on the craft, or equipment associated with them. There were also a few maintenance drones floating around on their counter-grav fields.
“We’re not aliens in the sense that we are from another planet. We’re as human as everyone else. However, we do have ancestors that, while they were also human, were from another planet,” Ian finished.
“By ‘we’, you mean you, Jenny and the others... right?” Lara asked nervously.
“The most obvious sign of our heritage is a lack of certain types of body hair. There are a few other signs, but they’re not as noticeable,” Beth explained. “Which brings us back to why we’re here. Talosian medical science is roughly a thousand years ahead of Earth knowledge. I can actually cure your alcoholism, Luke, not just treat the symptoms.”
Luke looked thoughtful for a few minutes. “Ian, I feel I’ve gotten to know you pretty well over the past couple of months. I knew you had some secrets; hell, who doesn’t? I never expected anything like this.” He looked around again before focusing on Ian.
“However, I do know how national security works and all that cloak and dagger stuff. With what you’ve shown us, there’s no way you can take the risk that we’ll tell anyone. We can never leave now, can we? If we tried, you’d be forced to kill us to protect this secret. By letting me bring my wife and daughter, you’ve insured our cooperation.”
Ian shook his head. “Nope, not true. Yes, it may appear that way, but it isn’t. Your word is all that I need. I’ve gotten to know you as well, and I know that, once you really get to see what we’re doing here; what the real mission is, you’ll gladly help us. That’s just the type of person you are.
“Yes, I did hide this from you, I’m sure you can understand why. Eventually, I’d like to tell everyone on the surface the whole truth, but that can’t happen yet. We do still have some secrets, mostly to do with weapons systems and the like. But from now on, and with those exceptions, we won’t hide anything from you. If you have a question, ask. Unless it deals with something classified, you’ll get an answer or an explanation why. You and your family are in no danger from us,” Ian said, looking Luke right in the eye.
“What if we try to leave?” Luke asked.
“If you want, I’ll drive you to the airport myself,” Ian said firmly.
“No threats, no insurance that we’ll keep our mouths shut?” Luke asked.
“I took you into my confidence by showing all this to you. I honestly don’t believe you would ever knowingly betray that,” Ian said.
Luke was silent for a few moments, just looking at Ian. He turned to Beth, “So, Doctor, what’s this about a cure?”
Beth led the Beldens back toward her offices, with Ian and Tara following behind. “That was a close call,” Tara said softly. “I’ve never seen Daddy like that before.”
Ian chuckled, “Just wait until you tell him your plans on bonding with two people, one of them another girl.”
Tara shuddered. “I hope he doesn’t get as scary as he was just now. I think I’d run.”
“He would never hurt you, Tara, always remember that. His ‘scary face’ is a way to test the truth of a situation. If you look away or worse yet, run away, he’ll never believe you’re sincere,” Ian explained.
“Really, so you weren’t lying to him?” Tara asked.
“I’m not a monster, Tara. There will be times when I might have to be tough on people, but this isn’t one of those times. I honestly believe that your father would die before he betrayed my trust in him. Like I told him, that’s just the type of person he is,” Ian said. “All of this is to protect lives, not threaten them. Our whole purpose is the safety of this planet; your parents are part of that. He also trusts me not to take advantage as well.”
“Maybe I’ll understand better later, to me, it just looked like you took a hell of a risk with him and Mom,” Tara said.
“Tara, look around, why do you think all these people are here? I mean, why do you think none of them have run off to tell the government about this place? They would get a hell of a reward for this information. So why doesn’t anyone do it? No one is being held against their will, there are no guards,” Ian asked. “Why haven’t you done it?”
“The easy and quick answer is Kyle and Stephanie, but there’s more to it than that. Getting the government in here would just fuck everything up, and they would never believe there was an alien threat to the planet.
“They would use the weapons to take over the rest of the planet and capture all the oil fields. Helping you is the right thing to do. I do love my country, but the government is another matter, besides, that reward they’d offer would most likely be a bullet in order to make sure you didn’t tell anyone else,” Tara said. “But I do have to wonder; what’s in it for you? Why are you doing this?”
“As you said, it’s the right thing to do, and I’m the only one the ship will accept as Commander. But I also get to live the way I want to live, and love who I want to love. Material goods aren’t really an issue anymore. I’d like to help the rest of the world get to this point; to have the freedom to finally make their own decisions for themselves. But mostly, I just want to keep everyone alive long enough that my dream can eventually become a reality,” Ian said. “Sounds pretty self-righteous, doesn’t it?”
“Actually it sounds like a good dream. But now that you have the weapons to enforce it on others, what will you do?” Tara asked.
“Protect the planet. If I forced my dream on others, I’d be no different than any common dictator. I consider us a branch of the military this planet doesn’t know it has yet. The primary function of the military is to defend. I might try to assist progress in subtle ways, but not by force of arms,” Ian said.
“I knew there was a reason I couldn’t picture you as the world domination type,” Tara said “Come on, let’s catch up to my folks.”
“So young lady, I assume you’ll want to learn how to fly one of those fighters out there?” Luke asked.
“Yes, Daddy,” Tara said. “As well as learn how they work.”
“Well, you’re eighteen, the decision’s yours, but I think you should give it some thought first, you’ll be leaving Kyle behind,” Luke suggested.
“That’s something I wanted to talk to you and Mom about, but it can wait for a little while. Have you decided to accept Doctor Williams’ help?” Tara asked.
“Yes, we have. She was just telling us how the whole thing’ll work. Luke will have to stay down here for a couple of days, but we can come visit as often as we want,” Lara said.
“Are you ready to get started, Luke?” Beth asked.
“I think I should check in with Elias first, j
ust to make sure I can take a few days off,” Luke said.
“Elias is currently away on personal business. However, he did approve time off for you,” Ian said smiling.
“No! Elias knows about all this too?” Luke asked. He looked slightly hurt.
“Yes, Elias has known just about everything from the beginning. He even had a hand in getting the design for this place worked out. He thought of things the architect didn’t,” Ian said smiling. “Don’t feel bad, Luke, he was bound by the same thing you are. He just couldn’t tell you.”
“What about Laura and Stephanie?” Lara asked.
“Laura, has known as long as Elias has, but Stephanie, Kyle, and Tara, found out last night,” Ian replied, smiling hopefully at the girl.
She gave him a ‘gee thanks’ look. “It’s part of what I want to talk to you about later, Daddy.”
“Sweetheart, this is starting to sound pretty important. If it’s alright with Beth and Ian, I think we should get it taken care of now, don’t you?” Luke asked her.
Tara looked resigned, and touched her ear. “Kyle? Stephanie? Could you guys come back to the clinic? I need your help.”
She nodded to herself as she received the answers. “This concerns them as well Daddy. But before they get here, there are a few things you need to know about Talosian culture. You see, Talosian society doesn’t have the bias’s we do about relationships. They just never had them.”
“Okay, I can understand that I guess, I don’t approve of homosexuality, but I do feel it’s not any of my business anyway. So what has that got to do with you?” Luke asked.
Lara sat next to him and took his hand. “Luke, our daughter likes boys and girls. What she is trying to gently tell you is she has fallen in love.”
Luke snorted, “She didn’t need to tell me that! Hell! Anyone could see how she acts around Kyle and...” He stopped and looked thoughtful. “... and Stephanie. You’re in love with both of them. That’s what you’re trying to tell me.”
“Yes, Daddy. That’s what I’m trying to tell you,” Tara said softly.
About that time, there was a minor commotion outside the office, followed by a polite knock on the door. It opened to reveal a sweating and panting Kyle and Stephanie.
“Please tell me you two didn’t run here? Do you know what could happen to you in this heat? Sit! Both of you!” Beth said in her best mother’s voice. She went to the replicator and asked for two bottles of water. “Drink this, neither of you are to leave here until you’ve drunk two of those bottles, understood?”
Shocked into obedience, the two miscreants followed her instructions without comment. Beth sat back down where she had been, “Young people!” she said sarcastically.
“My apologies, Doctor, but Tara said she needed us,” Kyle offered by way of explanation. There was no repentance in his voice.
“I understand that, Kyle, but you need to consider your environment. How well would you have been able to help her if you were in one of my treatment rooms with heat stroke?” Beth said.
“I understand, Ma’am,” Kyle said.
Luke cleared his throat. “Kyle, Stephanie, My little girl tells me she has fallen in love with the two of you. I gather from her explanation that she wants to pursue a relationship with the two of you. What I want to know is how do you feel about her?”
“We love her too, sir. Either of us would do anything for her,” Stephanie said.
“I’m a bit concerned about jealousy between Tara and Stephanie. I mean, the three of you won’t always be together, so someone is bound to feel left out.” Lara said.
“It’s true that there will be times when we all can’t be together, but those should be rare,” Kyle admitted. “Before you ask, Stephanie’s folks know all about it, and we have their blessing.” Kyle took Tara’s hand and pulled her over to sit beside him and Stephanie.
“How long have they known about this?” Luke asked.
“Just since last night, sir, I got the impression they’ve known longer, but we certainly didn’t tell them,” Kyle replied. “No one was trying to hide anything from either of you; we had planned on telling you tonight.”
Lara turned to her husband. “Remember how we broke the news to our parents? Mine the first night, and yours the next. Ours are only doing the same thing. We can’t fault them for that.”
“Sir, we know this is an unusual situation, but the three of us really think we can make this work,” Stephanie said. “We would like your permission to live together during our training down here. We can still come home to visit, since we aren’t really all that far away.”
“What about children? Have the three of you talked about that yet?” Luke asked calmly.
“Yes, Daddy, we have. Both Stephanie and I are now on birth control since we want to finish flight school at least. We felt it would be a good trial for us, since we would be under the stress of flight school as well as learning to live together,” Tara explained.
“Well, since you really won’t be all that far away, I don’t see why you can’t try it. I’m not convinced that this is the right thing for you, pumpkin, but I do know that you really love these two, and I can see that they love you as well. That counts for a lot, and can get you through a lot of hardship. Never forget the love you have for each other, talk about everything, and you should pull this off. Your mother and I will be here for any of you if you need someone to talk too. If she agrees, I’ll support you in this,” Luke said, surprising everyone.
“Are you sure, honey?” Lara asked her husband. “This could really mess them all up if it fails.”
Luke turned and took his wife’s hands in his own. “Lara, eighteen years ago, we faced the hostility and intolerance of my parents. Tara has been a good kid all her life. She’s smart, never gotten involved with drugs or gotten pregnant. She wants this. I think we should trust her enough now to let her try to be the person we raised. It’s time to start letting her go.”
“You will always be my parents. I’m not really going all that far away. Hell, if I had followed my original plan, I’d be leaving for college in a couple of months, and that’s a lot farther away. I’ll get a better education this way too,” Tara said.
“How so?” Lara asked.
“Sleep teaching. It’s a lot faster than standard methods, and the information stays in the mind longer. I’m sure you’ll learn all about it, Mom,” Tara said, grinning.
Beth handed Luke and Lara the now common contacts and ear-bud then explained their use. When she finished she asked Luke if he was ready to begin his treatment.
“I suppose I am,” Luke replied. He turned to his wife. “Will you be back to have dinner with me? I think maybe Tara might like to have dinner with her...” He snorted. “What the hell do I call you?” He said to Kyle and Stephanie.
“Fiancés will work, but the term that translates from Talosian is ‘potential bond-mates’ or ‘future bond-mates’. The word is a combination of those,” Ian said.
“I think Tara might like to have dinner with her new family,” Luke said smiling at his daughter. “Give me a hug, girls.”
Tara and Lara gave the big man hugs, then he surprised her by pulling Stephanie into a hug as well. When he let her go he held his hand out to Kyle. “I’ve known for a while that you’d most likely be the one Tara picked, so I figured I’d be saying this one day... Welcome to the family.” He smiled at Stephanie as well as Kyle.
“Thank you, sir,” Kyle said with relief. Stephanie just grinned at him.
“We all have been invited to dinner at Stephanie’s house tonight. I guess that means we can start our training tomorrow, then?” Kyle asked his girls.
“Yes, can we stop by my place so I can pick up some clothes and change?” Tara asked.
“Of course, love. We should get moving though, Dad should be getting back soon, and I’m sure mom could use some help with dinner,” Stephanie said.
Tara gave her parents’ one final kiss on their cheeks. “I’ll see you both tomorr
ow. I love you, and thank you.”
“Take care of each other, and remember we love you,” Lara said.
As the kids left, Beth led Luke into one of the treatment rooms, and Ian walked Lara back toward the elevator.
“I’m not sure what to tell people if they ask where Luke is,” Lara said.
Ian smiled, “When in doubt, blame the boss. Tell them he is doing a special assignment for me. You won’t be lying, and it explains his absence.”
“You’re pretty good at this cloak and dagger stuff,” Lara teased.
“I’m still a teenager, I learned a long time ago the best way to tell a lie is to tell the truth,” Ian replied grinning.
Lara got serious suddenly. “Luke will be alright won’t he? I mean this ‘cure’ isn’t potentially fatal is it?”
“Lara, if there was a risk involved; Beth would have told you about it. If she wasn’t certain she could help him she would have told you. She’s a good doctor, she doesn’t subscribe to that crap about hiding things from patients so they won’t worry. She doesn’t like surprises, so she doesn’t believe her patients would either, not when it comes to their health,” Ian said.
“Tara, Kyle and Stephanie are not the first group marriage here are they? The way your eyes light up when you talk about Beth or any of the women living with you give it away. Though, I didn’t realize it until now. You’re married to all of them aren’t you?” Lara asked.
“Everyone but Talena. They all love each other as well,” Ian said smiling.
“I just can’t imagine anything like that. I think I would kill someone if they tried to join Luke and I. I can’t imagine sharing him with anyone,” Lara said. “But then again, I’ve never been attracted to other girls. I don’t know where Tara got it from.”
“I don’t think it’s something that can be ‘gotten’, I think it’s more of the way a person sees the world. Each of us is different, and each of us has different likes and dislikes. None of us are actually related, but Beth and Cindy are both bisexual; actually, I think Cindy is lesbian with the exception of me, and I know Talena is. Yet, I’ve never been even remotely attracted to another male,” Ian said.
